During the Business Travel Show Europe I was invited to host a Masterclass session helping to address the rising challenges of mental health across travel (and society).  I was asked to develop and deliver this session with the amazing human Bex Deadman.

 

The intention of this session was to provide those attending with insights into the world of mental health, and how we, as travel professionals need to ensure that we are doing everything that we can to help those around us who are struggling.

 

We decided to use a simple open discussion format, asking questions intended to provoke reaction, to gauge the feelings of the room.   Whilst the attendance was relatively low (circa 25) the room was complete with a good mix of Corporate Travel Managers, TMC’s and Suppliers, all of whom no doubt had a vested interest in mental health.

 

Both of us as hosts talked openly in the safety of the environment about our own personal journeys with mental health.  For both of us, we understand when things change, when we need to adjust, and how the future journey continues. 

 

The audience were encourage to talk openly about their experiences, and whilst we were limited to time, the conversations were very insightful.  The most notable insights that I drew from the session were as follows:

 

Mental Health Training

Who in the room has received any formal training around mental health?

The resounding response of the room was that nobody had received any training (all of us in the room are grown adults).

This led to a very interesting thought. If those in the room are invested in mental health (attending this session), but had no formal training, how are we able to provide more awareness and potential training to help everyone in the future?

 

Conference and Event Anxiety

Who in the room felt anxious to attend the Business Travel Show Europe?

Half of the audience shared that they felt anxious attending the event.  We discussed the type of anxieties, and these included a range of being around big groups, leaving others at home, networking with others, travel challenges and so on.

 

Supporting Travellers better

How can we help our travellers who are struggling with mental health challenges?

The simple answer to this question is that we need to make sure we have the ability to listen and support each traveller through their challenges before they become bigger issues.

 

Training mental health awareness across the whole organisation is an important first step.  We need to all understand individually how and when our mental health changes.  We need to all understand what to do to improve our own wellbeing, and importantly how to continue to promote positive mental health.

Through raising awareness we can help to educate everyone in the importance of mental health, and how we as organisations are able to them support each other better in the future.

 

If you would like to know more about the work that I do to improve conversations of mental health, or have your own insights or stories to share please feel free to get in touch.

 

www.simpila.com

 

Matt Holman

Amazing Human

Simpila Mental Health