Video Transcription
The connection between work, study and mental health
The thing with mental health and work and study is that they can help each other—building your confidence, getting a sense of purpose, and feeling like you’re moving forward. I think we all have this innate desire to kind of contribute. I mean, the science does say that meaningful work is one of the biggest supports to your mental wellbeing.
Work and study support has greatly helped my mental health. I mean, I was at a very low point job hunting, and obviously, having no money is not great for your mental health because you can’t afford to live your life to the fullest. So, the work and study support helping me get a job has really improved my future outlook.
I know that when I was doing my bachelor’s degree, having a second opinion to kind of solidify my confidence in what I was doing and what I am doing is really useful. Because these people, they know what they’re talking about, they’ve had experience, and that really helps. I think having that guidance and mentorship is a big confidence booster.
Having programs like these is kind of a circuit breaker, right? Like, you can, there is someone there to be like, “Yes, you need to do your study and you need to do your work, but you also need to manage it yourself and prioritise yourself so that it doesn’t consume your whole life.” It’s okay to not have it all worked out. It’s okay to not know exactly what you want to do in life. It’s okay to be unsure; that’s fine, because not everybody knows exactly what they want to do and not everybody has it all mapped out.
With your mental health, it’s okay if things are sort of falling apart there for you too, but you still want help with work and study. If you’re seeing somebody, that’s great! We can work together with them to make sure that we help you get the best service possible from us.
It’s absolutely really good to be doing both therapy and the work and study program. For me, when talking to my support person, I can talk to them about all the relevant job-hunting things and any anxieties I have over that, whereas when I go to see my therapist, I can actually prioritise and focus on different issues in my life.
Work is actually a really protective factor. It’s really good to have something to get up and do each day. I definitely recommend getting as much support as you can. I mean, having a support system is a really valuable thing, and having more people with more specialties to do that is always going to be better.
Video by headspace
