A Message from the Editor,

Sonia Last 📝

Supporting mental health in the workplace isn’t just about reacting to crises—it’s about preventing them.

A core aim of mental health training is ‘prevention and early intervention’. How we practice these will vary but the CARE technique and good listening skills will always form a substantial part of the approach. 

We can’t prevent the life events and challenges that might trigger a decline in someone’s mental wellbeing, but we can play a role in preventing people from spiralling into crisis. Being better at communicating, reducing stress where we can, and building trust-based relationships are key to our effectiveness as mental health champions.

Intervening when someone is having a bad day or struggling emotionally, can quickly alleviate distress and improve outcomes. We shouldn’t underestimate the extraordinary power of human kindness or our ability to wield it. Prevention and early intervention are our best weapons against emotional distress.

Sonia

Sonia Last

Editor

Financial Wellbeing Matters – And We’re Making It a Priority! 💰

April 2025 is Financial Wellbeing Month —a vital initiative by FinWELL Champions®️ focusing on financial wellbeing, mental health, and suicide prevention in workplaces. At MHScot Workplace Wellbeing, we’re committed to supporting this movement by helping businesses access essential resources.

We know financial stress is a major contributor to mental health challenges that's why we also provide Financial Wellbeing training for employers and employees.

Workplaces have a critical role in fostering financial resilience so we hope you can get involved in Financial Wellbeing Month!

Sign up for free today:

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The four hundred plus, top-drawer clients in MHScot’s portfolio, encompass almost every industry in the UK, so we are constantly gaining valuable insights into new arenas and can appreciate how vital our training is in your respective fields and communities.

Our clients in the Scottish Highlands and Islands are increasing their reach with mental health training. These far flung, vibrant communities are stepping up to address the unique challenges their communities and industries face in keeping people well.

Public-facing councils and social services are also equipping their teams to better serve their communities. These forward-thinking civic bodies are doing great work for and on our behalf.

The positive influences that come from administering Mental Health First Aid have far reaching benefits that are not easily measurable, but are no less impactful for that.

Favourite phrase:

‘Link panic’

I’ve recently coined the phrase, seeing how stressed people are when entering Zoom or Teams meetings. You’ll be familiar with having to search for an invite link, hidden deep in an email or calendar, having too many links, or juggling back-to-back meetings without any processing time in-between. When you do have things under control, with two minutes to go, your device starts running an update.

These scenarios can make us panic and loose our cool and so we enter meetings in a state of high anxiety. There ought to be an antidote to this very modern phenomenon. Any ideas, anyone?

Favourite quote:

‘Mental Health problems don’t define who you are. They are something you experience. You walk in the rain, and you feel the rain, but you are not the rain.’ - Matt Haig

Wishing you all a sense of renewal and a spring in your step.

Sonia and the MHScot Team