Mental health and wellbeing

Our mission is to champion the wellbeing of our pharmacy family. On these pages you will find guidance and advice on how you can stay mentally healthy and boost your wellbeing.

Pharmacist Support is here to help you on your journey to positive mental health and wellbeing.

These pages provide guidance and advice on staying mentally healthy and reducing stress. They cover a wide range of areas and can be beneficial for both your own personal use and for your pharmacy team. Take a look at the topics below, or use the search function if you know what you’re looking for, and begin your journey to sustained good mental health and wellbeing.

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Try searching our guidance and support by using a keyword or phrase, or selecting one or more topics from the dropdown.

Mental health and wellbeing pages

Anxiety

Most people experience feelings of anxiety at some points in their life and is not uncommon. This page provides information about anxiety and where you can find support.

What is stress?

This page explores the causes of stress, how we can recognise our own personal warning signs, and ways we can deal with stress to help lead happier and more fulfilling lives.

Managing stress

This page focuses on ways to deal with daily stresses and pressures. It includes a self-study module with ways to help you manage stress and tasks to implement right away to help you get started.

Being positive

This page covers why we should think in a more positive way. Including a short self-study module on how to turn negative thoughts into positive ones to help you become more optimistic when overcoming challenging situations. …

Exploring the five ways to wellbeing

On this page you can find the definition of the five ways to wellbeing. As well as a self-study module with ideas on how you can implement them into your life to help manage your own mental wellbeing.

Improve your wellbeing through giving

On this page, we take a dive into the benefits of volunteering and the different ways to be more altruistic in our lives.

Eating disorders

On this page we explore some common and less common eating disorders, who is affected, and where to seek help and support.

Help with alcoholism

Explore what alcoholism and alcohol dependency are, as well as how and where you can seek help and support.

Help with drug abuse

Explore what drug abuse is, as well as how and where to seek help and support.

Help with gambling

On this page we explore how to identify a problem with gambling and where to go for help and support.

Mindfulness

Whilst it cannot eliminate life's pressures, mindfulness can be a good way of helping people to deal with them in a calmer manner that is beneficial to overall wellbeing.

Talking Therapy

Some people may feel more comfortable talking to people outside of their friends and family about issues such as anxiety. This page covers the support you can receive from Pharmacist Support as well as outside organisations to reach out to.

Understanding your worries

Take a look at some ways you can start to understand and better manage your worries through our interactive flowchart.

Wellbeing

Wellbeing can be affected by all manner of different things, for example: diet and lifestyle, workplace pressures and personal relationships.

Additional mental health and wellbeing support

This page provides an introduction to how and where you can get mental health and wellbeing help. This includes through Pharmacist Support, the NHS, and other charities and organisations.

Breaking the silence about mental health and wellbeing

Hear from other pharmacists about their own journeys with overcoming mental health challenges, managing wellbeing, and the importance of raising awareness within the profession.

Mental health is just as important as physical health. I now make sure I put in boundaries to care for myself.

Amandeep Doll shares her experience of high-functioning anxiety and depression and shares her tips on how to manage the condition.

Behind the brave face I was hiding anxiety, as well as that deep feeling of imposter syndrome.

Chi Huynh shares the struggles he's had with mental health and anxiety over the course of his career as a university lecturer, and how he's dealing with them.

Speaking up should not be a shameful action that can cost your career and affect your mental health.

Elsy Gomez Campos reflects on her struggles with mental health caused by a challenging and unsupportive work environment, and how she overcame them.

Ultimately, it’s about acceptance. Mental health issues can affect all of us.

Helena Young shares her story of experiencing high anxiety and burnout and touches on the tools and techniques that helped her get through it.

“I had lost my confidence and self-belief. I was completely broken.”

Aamer Safdar opens up about his own work related stress and anxiety and his journey through the tough times to build himself back up.

I had no idea of the major impact menopause could have on mental health and wellbeing.

Kathryn Murray shares her struggles with depression brought on by menopause, and advice on how pharmacy managers can support anyone going through something similar.

Now that I’ve started going back to work, I really appreciate the human interaction and simply catching up with my colleagues.

Hey! I’m Nahim Khan and I’ve been a pharmacist for nearly 11 years. I work as a portfolio pharmacist in academia, GP practice and community pharmacy. Like a lot of other professionals, the COVID-19 pandemic caused lots of changes to my routine. I started working from home for part of the week and for me,…

What can you give today that will benefit someone else tomorrow?

Hear from Sureena Clement, a fellow pharmacist, about how the act of giving supports her own mental health and wellbeing…

The satisfaction of knowing you’ve helped a fellow pharmacist to cope with a difficult period in their life is second to none.

On this page, one of our Listening Friends details how the act of volunteering benefits their mental health and wellbeing.

The charity has been there by supporting pharmacists with our mental health in confidence.

Charity supporter

Our mental health services

Listening Friends service

Listening Friends is our peer support service. This peer support service offers you the choice of speaking in confidence and anonymously to one of our trained volunteer pharmacists.

Counselling

We provide direct psychological support for those who are experiencing mental health issues. You can access up to twelve free counselling sessions via phone, Zoom or for those within travelling distance to Altrincham, face to face.

Wardley Wellbeing Service

The Wardley Wellbeing Service is here to support you and your team to prioritise your mental, physical and emotional health. Through the service, you can access a range of individual and group training.