I spent some time over the early May Bank Holiday weekend thinking about my current well-being and how important it is to stay attuned to how changes in circumstances can impact it. It seems a fitting time to share some of those reflections ahead of Mental Health Awareness Week (MHAW) 2021.

My starting point will be familiar: mental health, like all aspects of diversity and inclusion, is not a one-size-fits-all situation. The bit I sometimes forget is that this applies to the needs of today-me compared to past-me as much as it applies to a comparison to others.

In the UK, we’re about to see one of the most eagerly anticipated milestones on the 17th May: for most people, it’s the first time they’ll see friends and family indoors in at least five months. Travel will increase. Dining out will increase. Access to indoor entertainment attractions will resume. The milestone brings significant mental health benefits, but there have been plenty of articles and discussions about people being nervous about lockdown easing for good reason.

Most of us will have coping strategies designed for the isolation we’ve been living in. Focus will have been on things like walks to get out and see people – the reason for the theme of this year’s MHAW being ‘nature’ – or scheduled video calls with friends and family.

As our context changes with lockdown easing and workers returning to offices over the next six months, there will be a myriad of potential new stresses, e.g. commuting; crowds; reduced family-time; increased spending.

Our coping strategies for our year-one-pandemic-selves, however subconsciously developed, will need to adapt. Where previously we needed to schedule the time to speak to people outside the home, now there might need to be focus on protecting and maintaining time at home, whether this is moments of solitude or time with family. Where we’re lucky enough, hybrid home-office working models may help with this.

There may also be things we want to protect – coping strategies made more vulnerable by the changes. I’ve mentioned before that one big gain for me was how an inability to see anyone in-person made everyone equally virtually accessible, allowing friendships to be rekindled. I already know it will require a bit more effort to ensure that continues.

We also need to be agile in monitoring ourselves. Staying with the example of the pandemic: The UK is trending in a positive direction at the moment, but other countries are facing stricter controls and a great deal of strife. We all know how quickly variants can spread, and it would be complacent to think we’ve beaten this. It’s another point in favour of protecting some of those coping strategies that help in periods of isolation, in case we need them again.

I don’t claim to have a perfect recipe answer in this, but by thinking about whether our coping strategies are fit-for-purpose on a regular basis, and testing them against things we know will change, I think it puts us all in a position to more comfortably handle uncertainty.

I hope reading this might have been useful for you, even if just as that prompt to do something you already know well. I wish you all a great Mental Health Awareness Week, however you mark it.

Thank you for reading!