Mental Health: Where to Start
May 9, 2024
This year’s Mental Health Awareness Month theme is “Where to Start: Mental Health in a Changing World”. Established by Mental Health America, Mental Health Awareness Month motivates us to reflect on our mental health journey no matter where we are. Their resources focus on guiding you on where to learn more about mental health, how to act on what you learn, and how to advocate to improve your mental health.
One of the goals of Mental Health America is to normalize taking care of your mental health as a way to eradicate the stigma around mental health. Prioritizing your mental health is an excellent way to help combat the stigma around this topic. Fortunately, the recent Veterinary Wellbeing Study study by Merck Animal Health, found that the stigma around mental health has decreased and more people are seeking help. We offer our team members the following support to help veterinarians and support staff take care of their mental health:
Employee Assistance Program - Here we offer all employees access to an employee assistance program that provides support for the mental and emotional wellbeing of team members and their dependents, including face-to-face or virtual counseling sessions with a licensed therapist.
Headspace - As another part of the employee assistance program, team members receive a subscription to Headspace. This app can help you start and end your days feeling like your best self. They offer easy, 24/7/365 access to stress-reducing meditations, yoga, mood-boosting workouts, sounds to help you fall asleep, and much more.
There are free apps such as Calm to help care for your mental health as well. Calm offers various tools to help you sleep more, stress less, and live mindfully. The app provides daily meditations, relaxing music, soundscapes, and sleep stories! Try out the “Daily Jay” meditation and the Sleeping Beauty sleep story narrated by Nick Viall.
We encourage all of our team members to contact our Employee Experience team if they need support. Or as a Vetcor team member you could reach out to your hospital or regional manager to find out about our employee assistance program that includes resources on wellbeing.
