This article was published on Thu 01 Apr 2021. At the time of publishing, this article was true and accurate, however, over time this may have changed. Some links may no longer work. If you have any concerns about this please contact us

World Health Day is an awareness day organised by the World Health Organisation.  This year they have chosen the campaign ‘to build a fairer, healthier world.’ For more details click here.

World Health Day is celebrated annually and each year draws attention to a specific health topic of concern to people all over the world. It is an ideal time to think about your own health and of those close to you.

Your overall wellbeing is fundamental to how fulfilled you feel and comprises of all aspects of life, including, financial, social, emotional and physical wellbeing. Positive wellbeing improves your resilience and will help you overcome difficulties and life’s challenges.

Physical Health

Research shows that being sedentary is bad for your health, so ensure you keep active. Exercise helps both your physical and mental health, so it’s important to stay active.

A few hours of gentle exercise a week will release endorphins that make you feel energised. This could be as simple as a walk, a run, a cycle ride, dancing or even some gardening. In simple terms exercising makes you feel good.

For more details on looking after your physical health read our physical health guide here and our wellbeing & workout guide here.

Nutrition

Being overweight can cause various health concerns and according to Cancer Research UK, overweight and obesity is the 2nd biggest cause of cancer. Keeping a healthy weight reduces the risk of 13 different types of cancer. Diabetes and heart disease are also other conditions that you have a higher chance of developing if you are obese.

It is therefore important to ensure you are eating a balanced diet. For more details, read our nutrition guide here.

Sleep

When you’re well rested, you think more clearly, feel better, and have more stamina and energy. But many people don’t get the 7-9 hours of sleep that doctors recommend. Lack of sleep, even for a few days, can leave you feeling irritable, frustrated, and forgetful. Regular poor sleep can put you at risk of serious medical conditions, including obesity, heart disease and diabetes and it may shorten your life expectancy.

We spend about a third of our lives asleep. Sleep is essential, it is as important to our bodies as eating, drinking and breathing, and is vital for maintaining good mental and physical health. Sleeping helps us to recover from mental as well as physical exertion.

For more details, read our sleep guide here

Stress Awareness

We all know what it’s like to feel stressed, being under pressure is a normal part of life. But becoming overwhelmed by stress can lead to mental and physical health problems or make existing problems worse.

It’s important to put measures in place to reduce any stress you are feeling and to take a moment to think about your own wellbeing and find out more on how to manage stress. For more details, read our stress awareness guide here.

Dealing with change is hard for everyone and can be extremely stressful, for more information on handling read our change and improving your resilience guide here.

Mental Health

It’s important that you take care of your mind as well as your body.

Evidence suggest there are 5 steps you can take to improve your mental health and wellbeing. Trying these things could help you feel more positive and able to get the most out of life.

1. Connect with other people – Good relationships are important for your mental wellbeing. This may be more difficult at the moment, but still try to connect with others by video call or on a social distanced walk.
2. Be active – this is great for both your physical and mental wellbeing.
3. Take notice – paying more attention to the present can improve your mental wellbeing. Click here to try mindfulness.
4. Learn new skills – continued learning though life enhances self-esteem and encourages social interactions and a more active lifestyle.
5. Give to others – research suggests that acts of giving and kindness and being part of community life can improve your mental wellbeing.

For more details on the 5 steps to wellbeing click here.

It’s as important to look after your mental health as it is your physical health. For more details, read our mental health guide here.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help if your mental health is starting to deteriorate or you’re struggling to cope.

Financial health

Money worries are not just a financial problem they can cause relationships problems, people to lose homes and families to break down. People from all walks of life can end up in debt for many different reasons like divorce, redundancy, ill health or bereavement. It’s not always easy to talk about money worries but if you’re struggling financially it’s important to take action.

For more details, read our debt awareness guide here.

Financial problems is one of the biggest worries that can negatively affect your mental health. According to the Police Federation’s annual Pay & Morale survey results published in November 2019 around one in eight officers were seeking financial support to cover living costs.

It’s important to start talking about money worries before your situation gets worse. Talking about money will give you the confidence to get help and find out who can best advise you on any problems.

It can give you a great sense of relief to share your problems, so you’re not facing them alone. It’s important to seek professional advice as soon as possible and not wait until it’s more difficult to find a solution.

We’ve teamed up with PayPlan*, one of the UK’s leading free debt advice providers, who offer free and confidential advice to anyone in serious financial difficulties. They’re able to advise you on a range of debt solutions suited to your individual circumstances, helping to protect you and your family with a sustainable way to manage your debt. Get free and confidential help to combat your debt, call PayPlan* on 0800 197 8433.

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*PayPlan is a trading name of Totemic Limited. Totemic Limited is a limited company registered in England, Company Number: 2789854. Registered Office: Kempton House, Dysart Road, PO Box 9562, Grantham, NG31 0EA. Totemic Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Financial Conduct Authority Number: 681263.

Want to learn more? Access our wellbeing hub here.

This article was published on Fri 05 Mar 2021. At the time of publishing, this article was true and accurate, however, over time this may have changed. Some links may no longer work. If you have any concerns about this please contact us

Recognising the pursuit of happiness as a fundamental human goal

March 20 is the International Day of Happiness and this year’s theme is Keep Calm. Stay Wise. Be Kind, focusing on finding positive ways to look after ourselves and each other. Since 2012 this day’s aim is ‘To promote happiness as a universal goal and aspiration in the lives of human beings around the world’.

We all want to lead a happy life and want the people we love to be happy too. But as a society we are not giving this enough priority. Our actions and choices can affect our happiness. What makes us happy has less to do with our money or possessions and more to do with our attitudes and relationships with other people. 

According to Action for Happiness there are 10 key areas in which we can take practical action to boost our happiness and to help prevent depression and anxiety.

GREAT DREAM – 10 keys to happier living

• Giving– Do kind things for others
• Relating – Connect with other people
• Exercising – Take care of your body
• Awareness – Live Life mindfully
• Trying out – keep learning new things
• Direction – Have goals to look forward to
• Resilience – Find ways to bounce back
• Emotion – Look for what’s good
• Acceptance – Be comfortable with who you are
• Meaning – Be part of something bigger 

Take the Action for Happiness Pledge

“I will try to create more happiness and less unhappiness in the world around me”

What to do if you aren’t happy

• Find 3 good thing each day
• Thank the people you’re grateful for
• Look for the good in those around you
• Bring mindfulness into your day
• Find your strengths and focus on them
• Get help if you’re struggling

Police Mutual Products & Services

If you are struggling to be happy because of money worries, Police Mutual are here to help. We want to break down the stigma surrounding debt and get people talking about money.

We’ve teamed up with PayPlan, one of the UK’s leading free debt advice providers, who offer free and confidential advice to anyone in serious financial difficulties.

They’re able to advise you on a range of debt solutions suited to your individual circumstances, helping to protect you and your family with a sustainable way to manage your debt.

Get free and confidential help to combat your debt, call PayPlan on 0800 197 8433.  If you don’t want to talk on the phone contact them using their online form. www.payplan.com

Want to learn more? Access our wellbeing hub here.

This article was published on Tue 02 Mar 2021. At the time of publishing, this article was true and accurate, however, over time this may have changed. Some links may no longer work. If you have any concerns about this please contact us

Marked every year on March 8th, International Women’s Day (IWD) is the day the world takes a moment to celebrate the achievements of women and make a stand for women’s equality.

Each year has a theme and the theme for 2021 is #ChooseToChallenge. The idea is that we are all responsible for our own thoughts and actions. So, as a collective we can choose to challenge and stand against gender inequality. By taking this stand, we can work together to create a fairer and more inclusive world to live in.

There’s an online campaign inviting people to share a photo of themselves raising a hand. It symbolises the person’s commitment to challenge inequality, call out gender bias and help create a better world.

You can participate by sharing your selfie on your own social media feed, using the hashtag #ChooseToChange.

Over 100 years of female Police Officers

Did you know it’s been over 100 years since the first woman Police Officer joined the Metropolitan Police? She took to the streets of London in 1919. It didn’t exactly open the floodgates, however. It took another four years until female Police Officers were allowed to make arrests. What’s more, it wasn’t until sixty-three years later, in 1986, that female officers were permitted to carry truncheons with which they could defend themselves while on duty!

Times have changed, thankfully. A 2019^[1] survey reported that there are over 37,000 female officers in the UK Police Force. And of course, in 2017 Dame Cressida Dick became the first woman to take charge of the Metropolitan Police as Commissioner.

Police Mutual sponsors the British Association for Women in Policing (BAWP). BAWP exist to empower the strong, hardworking women of the Police. The organisation’s mission is to continue to ensure that women’s voices in policing are both heard and understood.

You can find out more about BAWP here.

You can learn more about International Women’s Day here.

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^[1] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/831726/police-workforce-mar19-hosb1119.pdf

Want to learn more? Access our wellbeing hub here.

This article was published on Thur 28 Jan 2021. At the time of publishing, this article was true and accurate, however, over time this may have changed. Some links may no longer work. If you have any concerns about this please contact us

You can download this guide as a PDF

Time to Talk Day is the day to get us all talking about mental health. This years’ time to talk day on 4 February may be different, but during the pandemic talking about mental health is more important than ever.

The more conversations we have about mental health the more barriers we can break down and the closer we’ll come to ending mental health stigma and discrimination.

This year’s focus of time to talk day is the power of small, because however you have a conversation about mental health, whether it’s a quick message to a colleague, a virtual cuppa, or a socially distanced walk and talk, it has the power to make a big difference.

A small conversation about mental health has the power to make a big difference.

Mental health problems affect one in four of us, yet many people can feel isolated, ashamed and worthless because of this. Time to Talk Day encourages everyone to be more open about mental health, to talk, to listen, to improve lives. Every conversation brings us a step closer to ending the feelings that too many of us experience. Poor mental health can affect anyone, of any age, gender or background.

Starting a conversation with someone around their or your own mental health can feel uncomfortable. You may be worried that you will say the wrong thing but remember saying nothing is far worse. You may have concerns about how others are coping with the current situation.

Here are some tips on helping others:

• Ask others how they are feeling.
• Ask someone twice how they are feeling, this will give them the opportunity to be honest and to realise that you genuinely want to know.
• Listen and don’t judge, it’s great that people are happy to talk to you about how they are feeling, so ensure you really listen to them.
• Ask how long they have felt this way.
• Ask if there is anything you can do to help.
• Ask what support they need. Provide them with details of professional organisations, who may be able to help.
• Treat them in the same way, don’t change the way you act towards someone once you are aware of their poor mental health.
• Little gestures can have a big impact, this may be just having a virtual cuppa or watching a film together.

With the majority of children not currently going to school, they may be missing their friends and struggling with home schooling. Like adults, children will respond to this situation in different ways, such as being more clingy, anxious, withdrawn or angry. Try to respond to your child’s reactions in a supportive way, listen to their concerns and give them extra care and attention. Remember to listen to your children and re-assure them. For more details on supporting children during the pandemic click here.

Time to Talk day isn’t just about helping others, it’s also about thinking about your own wellbeing.

Research has shown that emergency services workers are twice as likely as the public to identify problems at work as the main cause of their mental health problems, but they are also significantly less likely to seek help. So during the pandemic it’s even more important to look after your own mental health when working on the frontline.

Here are some tips on helping yourself:

• Think about your purpose: be clear about why you are doing this job.
• Be clear on expectations: make sure you know what is expected of you and whether it is realistic.
• Keep your boundaries: establish clear boundaries between work and personal life, don’t take work home with you.
• Talk to colleagues: make time to talk to your colleagues about your experiences and share fears and concerns.
• Value your own family and relationships: while work is important, your family and relationships need to be valued.
• Keep active: regular exercise can boost your self-esteem, can help you concentrate, relax and increase your overall wellbeing. This can be as simple as a regular walk, being outside in nature can also help improve your mental health.
• Get plenty of sleep: sleep helps regulate the chemicals in our brain that transmit information. These chemicals are important in managing our moods and emotions and an imbalance in those chemicals can result in us becoming depressed or anxious. Read our sleep guide here.
• Eat well: nutrition is now more important than ever, having a balanced diet helps to ensure we have the correct nutrients.
• Avoid alcohol: The numbing effects of drinking are only temporary and can often lead to mental health issues. Alcohol can also damage the immune system. Try to adopt positive coping strategies such as talking, going for a walk or listening to music instead.  If you do drink, try to stay within the recommended unit guidelines.
• Keep in touch: it’s good for you to catch up with friends and family on a video call or over the phone.
• Take a break: a change of scenery or pace is good for you. Make sure you take time to relax and re-charge.
• Do something you’re good at: doing something you enjoy and you are good at can give you the ‘feel good’ boost that everyone needs. Enjoying yourself can help beat stress.
• Care for others: supporting others uplifts you as well as them.
• Ask for help: sometimes you need help from others, so don’t be afraid to ask for help, from a family member or friend, your GP or a professional organisation, see the list at the end of this guide for more details.
• Get the best out of the ‘new normal’: it may be hard but we all still need to live in the best way we can during these unusual times. This may be creating your own routine of things you enjoy doing, running, cycling, binging on Netflix, helping others in the community or learning a new skill, it doesn’t really matter what it is as long as you feel like you are achieving something and spending time looking after your own physical and mental wellbeing.

For more information on looking after your mental health during the pandemic click here to access our guide.

Mental health conversations have the power to make a big difference, but sometimes these conversations can bring up some difficult things that people may not have spoken about before. This might mean that they need some support. If you feel a loved one, colleague or yourself need additional support, contact a GP, a counselling professional or one of the organisations listed below:

• Samaritans
• Mind
• NHS
• AnxietyUK
• Mental health org

Financial problems is one of the biggest worries that can negatively affect your mental health. According to the Police Federation’s annual Pay & Morale survey results published in November 2019 around one in eight officers were seeking financial support to cover living costs.

It’s important to start talking about money worries before your situation gets worse. Talking about money will give you the confidence to get help and find out who can best advise you on any problems. It can give you a great sense of relief to share your problems, so you’re not facing them alone. It’s important to seek professional advice as soon as possible and not wait until it’s more difficult to find a solution.

We’ve teamed up with PayPlan, one of the UK’s leading free debt advice providers, who offer free and confidential advice to anyone in serious financial difficulties.

They’re able to advise you on a range of debt solutions suited to your individual circumstances, helping to protect you and your family with a sustainable way to manage your debt.

Get free and confidential help to combat your debt, call PayPlan on 0800 197 8433

Police Mutual Care Line Service

Police Mutual Care Line Service provided by Health Assured can offer advice and information, helping with a range of concerns including emotional support.

Want to learn more? Access our wellbeing hub here.

This article was published on Thu 28 Jan 2021. At the time of publishing, this article was true and accurate, however, over time this may have changed. Some links may no longer work. If you have any concerns about this please contact us

You can download this guide as a PDF

Children’s mental health week is run through Place2Be, a children’s mental health charity that provides counselling, support and training in UK schools. The first Children’s mental health week was held in 2015 and was set up to highlight the importance of children and young people’s mental health. This year’s theme is Express Yourself and will be running during 1 to 7 Feb. This week is about finding ways to share feelings, thoughts and ideas through creativity. Finding a way for children to feel good about themselves. For more details of Children’s mental health week, click here.

According to Place2Be around one in six children and young people have a diagnosable mental health problem, which may continue into adulthood. 50% of adults with lifetime mental health problems first experienced symptoms by the age of 14.

Like adults, the emotional wellbeing of children and young people is just as important as their physical health. Good mental health will allow them to develop the resilience to cope with life’s ups and downs and to grow into well-rounded, healthy adults.

Growing up is not easy, and sometimes it’s hard for children to cope with what is going on in their life.

Most children grow up mentally healthy, but surveys suggest that more children and young people have problems with their mental health today than 30 years ago. It’s suspected that this is probably because of changes in the way we live now and how that affects the experience of growing up.

Some of the mental health problems that can affect children and young people are:

• Depression is more common in teenagers than younger children, but affects more young people today than it did a few decades ago.
• Self-harm is where somebody intentionally damages or injures themselves. It is a common problem amongst young people.
• Anxiety can be triggered when changes happen in children’s lives, for example, changing schools. If anxious thoughts affect a child’s every day thoughts and behaviour, they may need professional help.
• Eating disorders is when you have an unhealthy attitude to food, types include anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa. The condition is most common in young women aged between 13 and 17.
• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a condition that affects your behaviour and those with it tend to be restless and struggle to concentrate.
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disorder caused by an extremely frightening or stressful event or situation, for example, physical abuse, witnessing or being the victim of violence or extreme bullying.

Things that can help keep children and young people stay mentally well include:

• being in good physical health, eating a balanced diet and getting regular exercise
• having time and the freedom to play, indoors and outdoors
• being part of a family that gets along well most of the time
• going to a school that looks after the wellbeing of all its pupils
• taking part in local activities for young people
• feeling loved, trusted, understood, valued and safe
• being able to enjoy themselves
• being able to learn and having opportunities to succeed
• accepting who they are and recognising what they are good at
• having a sense of belonging in their family, school and community
• feeling they have some control over their own life
• having the strength to cope when something goes wrong and the ability to solve problems

How to help your child

As a parent you can help your child by having an open relationship, which encourages your child to talk to you if they are troubled. Listening and taking their feelings seriously is the most important way you can help. They may just want you to listen or to have a hug, or they may want more practical help.

If you child’s negative feelings don’t pass over time, you may want to consider obtaining some professional help, initially talk to you GP and see what they suggest. It’s also a good idea to talk to your child’s teacher at school, to establish if how they are feeling is affecting their school work or friendships. They may have a school counsellor that your child can talk to. Different professionals often work together in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) run through the NHS.

During the Coronavirus Pandemic children and young people need more emotional support than ever.

It’s important to minimize the negative impact the pandemic is having on your children. You can do this by explaining the facts to them, answering their questions truthfully and being there to support them.

Like adults, children will respond to the current situation in different was, such as being more clingy, anxious, withdrawn, angry or agitated. Remember to listen to your children and re-assure them. Keep routines where possible or create new ones, building in time for learning, play and relaxation.

The best way to communicate to your children is by talking about worrying news with open, confident, clear and truthful facts. Here are some helpful tips:

• News – the important thing about seeing or hearing the news is balance. Don’t force children news or shield them from it. Discourage overexposure, small doses of real life news are helpful, whereas large doses may have a negative impact on children.
• Questions – answer you children’s questions truthfully and let them know the facts about the situation. It is common for children to have misunderstandings about traumatic events so encourage them to ask lots of questions, so you can correct any confusion. If you don’t know the answer to a question they ask you, explain this to them and then find out the answer and let them know.
• Support – make sure you are there to support your children and let them know they are safe and loved.
• Worry – let them know that it is normal to be concerned. Let them know that bad things can happen, but they don’t happen very often, so they do not need to be scared.
• Time – ensure you find the right time to talk about what is worrying your child. If your child starts asking questions at an inconvenient time explain to them that you would like to talk to them about it later and invite them to remind you, so they know you really are interested.
• Repetition – remember that children tend to repeat themselves when they are feeling uncertain or worried. They may need to ask the same question a number of times until they are feeling more reassured.
• Truthful – be as truthful as possible. It can be tempting, when children ask a direct or tricky question, to avoid it by bending the truth. This can be unhelpful when they are talking to others about what happened. It is often more helpful to be as honest as possible.
• Age appropriate – tailor the conversation to their age. All children have different temperaments and sensitivities. Their ability to understand the world, take in and react to bad news will depend on their age. If you have more than one child, you might want to talk about the news with them individually and tailor what you say to their needs and level.

At the end of each day talk about the things in the day that you have been grateful for, it will very quickly become a habit and help children to find the positive, no matter how small, in even the worst of days.

Organisations that can help

• ChildLine
• YoungMinds
• Contact a Family
• Family Lives
• Bernardo’s
• NHS
• Mental health foundation
• Penumbra (Scotland)
• CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably)
• PAPYRUS (Prevention of Young Suicide)
• Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition (CYPMHC)

Useful links:

• Childrens guide to coronavirus
• Storybook for children affected by coronavirus
• Helping children to cope with stress
• Coronavirus advice and support for parents and families
• List of online educational resources for home learning
• Ideas to help fight boredom

Want to learn more? Access our wellbeing hub here.