Mental Health in The Drinks Industry

Mental Health in The Drinks Industry

Given our work in Social Media and Content, those national, international and world ‘awareness’ days are something we tend to have a love/hate relationship with. We tend to consider them with caution on behalf of the brands we work with – particularly the hallmark holiday days. However, as with everything, there are exceptions to the rule and when it comes to mental health in the drinks industry, World Mental Health Day is definitely one for us to get stuck into.

World Mental Health Day is a day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy against social stigma surrounding Mental Health and Mental Illness. It’s our belief that alcohol is not entirely the enemy, and that those who misuse alcohol often do so due to poor mental health.

For example, it’s common for any of us to get back from a bad day at work and crack open the wine to relieve and reverse our feelings of stress, or for us to ‘need’ to hold a drink in our hands to socialise in an unfamiliar social environment. It’s not uncommon for the likes of bartenders to suffer poor mental health, too, and the conversation around mental health in the drinks advertising industry is beginning to grow.

The Mission for YesMore Agency

So we, as alcohol marketing specialists working with some of the worlds’ biggest and best drinks brands, are on a mission to inspire, educate and encourage our clients (and the wider marketing and drinks industry) to become more conscientious marketers by refocusing our minds onto improving mental health.

For us, this applies to the alcohol advertising and marketing campaigns we produce – ensuring they’re socially and mentally responsible, but also to our team, the clients and other agencies we work with and generally to mental health in the drinks industry.

It’s about helping people become aware of when and why they drink alcohol, and to drink for the right reasons and with the right motivations rather than to ‘use’ alcohol for escaping or ignoring problems. 

So, as an agency who pride ourself on our commitment to both our team’s mental well being, and also to our company mission to change society’s relationship with alcohol, we feel it is only fitting to celebrate World Mental Health Day!

What we’re doing for World Mental Health Day

So this week, the YesMoreAgency team will take some time out of the working day to care for ourselves and raise a bit of awareness in the process. For us, this includes a yoga class as a team on Thursday followed by a ‘proper’ lunch and walk. There’ll be a strict ‘no shop talk’ policy so we can focus on each other and our aim is to highlight the importance of finding time to focus on the ‘life’ bit of the work life balance. We’ll also be wearing green – the colour of the ribbon that signifies World Mental Health Day!

In terms of longer-term strategies for us as a company, we’ve also made a commitment to sign the Time to Change employer pledge, get at least one or two of the team trained as a Mental Health First Aider and develop a Mental Health at Work plan for YesMore Agency.

How You Can Get Involved in World Mental Health Day (and beyond)

If you fancy getting involved too, here are a few places that may give you some inspiration, whether you’re in the drinks industry or not:

Print and put up posters in your office, bar or restaurant to raise awareness, HERE.

Sign the pledge (for free) to sign the Time To Change employer pledge, HERE.

Learn more about mental health at work, HERE.

Watch this TV ad that aired last night to encourage the nation to create a mental health plan for coping with things like stress and pressure, below, and make your plan at the Every Mind Matters site HERE.