Mental Health Awareness Week 2023: A day in the life

It’s Mental Health Awareness Week 2023. This week we’re showcasing the work that our colleagues do to help improve the lives of others. Jamie Mosquito manages our Shaftesbury residence along with five other specialist recovery workers. We asked him to describe for us what his work week is like.

Describe a day in your life

I’m usually up around 7am and have a cup of tea while trying my best to wake up. Once dressed, I usually have breakfast with my wife and talk about what our days are looking like. With work, no two days are the same. But I usually get to spend a fair bit of time with staff and the people we are supporting, which is nice. The day starts with a handover with staff. And comprises of time with staff, residents, meetings, audits and discussions with external professionals. Plus admin, wooo!

At the end of the day, I like to go to the gym to decompress. I then get home, cook dinner and spend some time with my wife. We then mindlessly stare at the TV. Often watching something you don’t really have to think about.

What are the hardest things to deal with?

This varies. There are periods when dealing with high-risk situations. And times when you’re not dealing with those at all. One of the most difficult things can be maintaining positivity, high energy and motivation. Especially when staff and residents may be struggling. Keeping people focused when there are extra stresses can difficult. As a manager you’ve got to manage yourself, staff and resident’s emotions.

What are the best things about your work?

Positive interactions and outcomes with the people we support. Also, interacting with the staff team regularly is helpful. The best part is probably helping people achieve what they want to achieve. Whether that be moving on to more independence or developing skills that they want to develop.

How do you deal with anxiety? Work stress?

To be really honest, I have had anxiety for most of my adult life. So, it’s a daily occurrence for me. To manage this a healthy structure and routine is needed. Decent sleep, exercise regularly and a level of acceptance that feeling anxious is OK. Setting myself tasks that can be completed helps manage days when I am particularly anxious. I like to problem solve and will generally attack things head on, which helps manage things. I will also talk to my wife if having a particularly stressful time.

How do you help clients with their mental health?

This is all around relationship building. Once you have a good relationship with someone it makes it easier for them to share their stresses with you. And to put plans in place to manage this. Everyone is individual, but offering the residents time with someone they trust and a positive routine really does help.

Offering people something to meaningfully occupy themselves also helps. This includes playing pool, going for walks (we are near the beach which helps), art, music, board/ card games and many others. I help residents to develop coping strategies for when they are feeling stressed. At times of high stress, we provide the residents a space to vent in a safe and reasonable way. And with no judgement.

Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts and activities with us Jamie.

Mental Health Awareness Week 2023

This week’s it’s Mental Health Awareness Week and the theme is anxiety. Did you know that mobile phones can make you anxious? Take a quiz to see if you need to think about your mobile phone use!

Thank you to Digital Detox for creating the quiz.