This year’s World Mental Health Day highlights how constant exposure to harrowing global events and relentless bad-news cycles can fuel feelings of overwhelm, emphasising the urgency of supporting our mental health in times of crisis.

Work plays a huge part in our lives. It’s been estimated that the average person will spend 90,000 hours working, or around a third of their lifetime, so it goes without saying that we all have a vested interest in ensuring that it isn’t spent in abject misery. With studies showing time and again that happier workers equals better performance, it’s clearly in employers’ interests too. But how happy are we at work?

This year’s theme, “Standing Firm in Power and Pride,” lays the groundwork for us to work towards a future of continued empowerment, unity, and growth, urging us to build workplaces where Black lives are not just acknowledged, but genuinely supported. Where Black professionals are not just represented, but given the space to thrive. 

Every now and then, a movie reaches through the screen and leaves us with something lasting. Sometimes it’s a lesson about friendship. Sometimes it’s about resilience. Other times, like in the 1980 classic Nine to Five, it’s about the power of compassionate leadership.  

In construction, the need to address these criticalities grows more dire every day. Despite a rise in mental health initiatives since the pandemic, the industry still faces a crisis.

This year, Suicide Prevention Week will be taking place from the 7th-13th September and it’s a vital reminder of the importance of openly talking about mental health and making sure there is support available for those who need it.