This week, 15th-21st May, marks Mental Health Awareness Week, with the theme this year focusing on anxiety. The awareness week is for everyone to think about mental health, tackle stigma, and find out how we can create a society that prevents mental health problems from developing and protects our mental well-being.
Here at Third Kind Games we've done more by dedicating the whole month of May to raising awareness for not just mental health, but also accessibility, diversity and inclusion. We’ve themed it around a ‘safe space’, as we believe that workplaces can and should be a place where the entire team feel welcome and included, by fostering a safe environment for everyone to talk openly and be themselves.
We’ve invited our team to share their experiences, tips and insight in a series of talks focused around our theme, spread across the month. So far we’ve already had two brilliant talks from our team on ‘Imposter Syndrome’ and ‘Anxiety and how to rebuild confidence’. We’ve got three more lined up for the rest of May on topics including:
- How video games can help mental health
- ADHD support tips that benefit even those neurotypical
- Creating a safe space after trauma
A huge thanks to our team for opening up and sharing their experiences and offering tips and guidance. These sorts of interactions are invaluable. It also further cements the importance of one of our core studio values, which is ‘KIND’ – a sense of belonging and understanding means a lot to all of us on the team, creating an open and welcoming space for everyone to be themselves.
Starting next month we'll also be providing further training opportunities for our team members who are interested in Mental Health Awareness and becoming Mental Health First Aiders, as Third Kind continues prioritising mental health and supporting our team members in this way.
Why supporting mental health in the workplace is important
Creating an environment like this in the workplace is crucial for supporting mental health but it also has a number of other benefits:
1. Reducing stress and burnout
The games industry can be a high-pressure environment with tight deadlines and demanding projects. Supporting the team with work-life balance and creating a safe space for people to put their hands up and ask for help when they’re struggling means we can combat that before it becomes a problem.
2. Boosting creativity
When everyone feels listened to, valued and supported, the team is more confident to bring new ideas to the table, take risks and approach problems in new ways. That creativity boost is just what we need in game dev!
3. Opening up communication
Building relationships where the team feels like they can talk about anything and everything means they’re comfortable expressing their concerns, discussing challenges and asking for help when they need it. Alongside regular check-ins, this all feeds back into a healthy working environment.
4. Knowing when and where to get help
From time to time, everyone needs a little extra support, whether that’s due to personal or work-related factors. Ensuring the team has access to all the resources they need (including our Employee Assistance Provider) is vital, as well as regularly reminding the team what is available and recognising the signs of when they might want to make use of that support.