Difficult economic circumstances, a competitive marketplace, tight deadlines and long hours, as well as changing legislation, mean that being an architect can sometimes be hard. So much so, that working in the profession can often impact stress levels and mental health.
It’s important to remember that if any readers are struggling with mental health issues, they should always seek help from a medical professional.
However, a new year brings with it an opportunity for everyone in the industry to reflect, as well as new ideas on how to cope and to make it easier to talk about mental health to colleagues, managers and friends.
When it comes to a person’s mental health earlier interventions are known to produce better outcomes and the likelihood of a faster recovery.
Subsequently, Architects Benevolent Society (ABS) has focused on supporting mental health and wellbeing thanks to its innovative Tipping Point Continuum, part of its CPD-accredited Wellbeing Essentials Programme.
What happens when we talk about mental health?
ABS has seen an increase in people contacting them to talk about financial help, but also from those who want to discuss their mental health.
“Talking about our mental health can feel difficult, and it takes courage to pick up the phone for help,” says leadership coach Nicola Rich, from Nine To Thrive and trainer for ABS’s Wellbeing Essentials Programme.
“When we do talk about mental health it tends to be in either situations where people who are doing really well and thriving, or, at the other end of the scale, those who have mental health problems and are not doing so well,” she explains.
Nicola, who openly admits that she has struggled with her own mental health in the past, wanted to create something that addresses the grey area in between those two extremes.
“I think the tipping point came for me at a time when I struggled with my mental health. I didn't feel like I was particularly mentally well or particularly unwell but knew I wasn’t okay,” she says.
“I think the bit we sometimes don't understand or talk about enough is the bit in between those two ends of that continuum. If we don't understand what's going on in that middle bit, we are at risk of not doing things to keep ourselves well and not recognising when we're on that tipping point towards becoming quite unwell.”
The reality is that people may tend to slide into a state of anxiety or depression over time, and there will be tipping points along the way when negative reactions are triggered by common work situations.
For instance, feeling tense when working with a team leader under pressure may lead someone to worry far more when they are struggling than when they are feeling at the top of their game.
Thoughts and feelings may escalate in intensity with worry turning into catastrophising and dwelling on worst case scenarios over time. After all, we have the ability to be affected by negative energy as much as positive energy.
Everyone’s responses to challenges and pressures will be unique to them. Nicola likes to encourage people to become more self-aware of where their own tipping points are on the Tipping Point Continuum and be aware of any warning flags along the way.
How can the Tipping Point Continuum help?
Nicola explains: “The continuum does two things: it increases our awareness of where our mental state is at, and through that understanding helps us to choose interventions at different stages that may help us to stay well.”
The continuum – a visual chart, is a tool architects can use and customise in their own way. It encourages self-awareness and self-checking, a crucial part of keeping on top of managing one’s mental health.
The Tipping Point Continuum is currently only available through the delivery of ABS's Individual Perspective CPD course and is sent to the individual upon completion.
“There are moments when you might feel like you're thriving and feel really on top of your game. Life feels purposeful, and you feel engaged in your life.
But what happens when you’re not feeling that? What about if you’re working with a client and that relationship feels quite tense, or even you're working with your team leader and you're both under a lot of pressure at work? Those scenarios might have an impact and you might find that over time you feel anxious, tired or depleted.”
By taking a step back, filling in the chart – or continuum – Nicola hopes that there’s not only a realisation that every day is different and moods and emotional states shift and change but there’s also a recognition that a person can move up the continuum if they can identify and address problems early.
She continues: “Without having that self-awareness to know where you're at, it's really hard to then engage with any support because you probably are going to minimise what it is you're feeling and experiencing”.
How can ABS help?
ABS is best known for providing hardship funding for practising or former architects, as well as landscape architects and architectural technologists.
It first introduced mental health and wellbeing support in 2017 with therapeutic support for individuals provided by Anxiety UK and has been collaborating with RIBA along the way in providing awareness and coping strategies for architects in their workplaces.
Its Wellbeing Essentials Programme, consisting of four core workshops that are available online or in person, is the first to be formally CPD accredited.
The workshops have been developed specifically for those who work in the architectural profession, setting them apart from generic wellbeing workshops, says ABS Wellbeing Programme Lead, Anne Cosentino.
Workshops are tailored for individuals looking for guidance on how to support themselves or a colleague, or leaders/managers who have started, or would like to start, implementing a healthy mental wellbeing strategy in their practice.
Individual support is available through ABS’s free, confidential mental health and wellbeing support offer, in collaboration with welfare partner Anxiety UK. This is just one of the support services ABS offers.
If you are an architect, landscape architect or architectural technologist, or have been an employee of an architectural practice in the UK, ABS may be able to help.
And, with a new year underway, now might be the right time to consider new approaches and strategies that support good mental health.
Thanks to Nicola Rich, Nine to Thrive; Anne Cosentino; Wellbeing Programme Lead, Architects Benevolent Society.
Text by Neal Morris. This is a Professional Feature edited by the RIBA Practice team. Send us your feedback and ideas.
RIBA Core Curriculum topic: Health, safety and wellbeing.
As part of the flexible RIBA CPD programme, professional features count as microlearning. See further information on the updated RIBA CPD core curriculum and on fulfilling your CPD requirements as a RIBA Chartered Member.
