Taking time off to heal your physical health is the norm but taking a day off to look after your mental health can still feel taboo.
We want to change this at Pento.
One in four of us will go through a period of poor mental health this year. And we largely don’t talk about it. Some sick days are straightforward but talking openly about the need to care for our mental health is still less common than talking about our physical health, especially at work. This page is here to explain how you can do this here at Pento and what support you can expect.
We're on a mission to encourage everyone at Pento to share more about how they’re feeling. From the serious stuff, all the way to everyday wellbeing. This is why we have our #mighty-minds channel on Slack. The conversations in this channel can be led by anyone that wants to share something with the team. This could be anything from tips on wellbeing practices, sharing something that you’re going through or just having a rant. We hope it feels comforting knowing that support and advice (and the likely "me too") is only a few taps away ✨
According to Mind, the mental health charity:
“Good mental health means being generally able to think, feel and react in the ways that you need and want to live your life. But if you go through a period of poor mental health you might find the ways you're frequently thinking, feeling or reacting become difficult, or even impossible, to cope with. This can feel just as bad as a physical illness, or even worse.”
We’re with Mind on this: mental health needs to be taken just as seriously as physical health. We want to make this a reality.
The flexibility offered through remote working can be both a gift and a curse. It can be difficult to switch off, interact with others away from a screen, and take sufficient breaks. And when coupled with the fast-pace and pressures of working in a growing business, burnout can creep in. We hope our ways of working and flexible approach enables you to have control around how you work and to achieve balance, but we want to talk about what can happen in an environment like ours.
It’s often common for people to wait until they feel their mental health challenges are really serious or ‘a big thing’ before talking to us about it. This is OK if that’s your preference. But we want you to know that if things start to feel unmanageable—however small—there are lots of ways in which we can support you. If all you need is a chat for now, then our support can start and end there. If you feel you need more support, then we figure this out together.