World Mental Health Day is observed annually around the world on 10 October. This year a mental health education conference will be held on the day for persons who want to better understand how to manage their mental health at home and in the workplace.

Hosted by Kelly Holding Events & Communications in partnership with multi-specialty counselling centre Infinite Mindcare, the event will be held at Camana Bay Cinemas from 9am to 1pm on Tuesday, 10 October. The theme is “Working Productively, Coping Effectively”. 

Attendees will have the opportunity to attend a variety of sessions led by Infinite Mindcare’s team of qualified and experienced therapists. Every hour there will be three sessions to select from covering topics such as:

• Tips & Tricks for Anxiety in the Workplace, 
• Resilience Health Check: Vital Signs of Mental Health and Wellbeing, 
• Practical Tools to Unleash Your Full Potential and Become the Architect of Your Life and 
• Self-Care Planning: Prioritising Your Values and Personal Needs for Optimal Wellbeing. 

“Talking about our mental health should be something we do with as much ease as we discuss our physical health. Creating this event and partnering with Infinite Mindcare to bring it to Cayman’s corporate community is a tool to work towards that goal, said Rhonda Kelly, CEO of Kelly Holding. “As a community we need to continue to learn about our individual mental health and find new ways to support each other, both at work and in our personal lives, and we hope everyone who attends this event will have that experience.” 

Infinite Mindcare owner and Clinical Director Sutton Burke added, “In the months leading up to World Mental Health Day in October, Infinite Mindcare receives a lot of requests to provide presentations to companies and their employees. We wanted to recognise this by offering our past, current, and potential clients the ability to learn about an array of mental health topics. There are many organisations on the island that do an incredible job of promoting mental health awareness for children and adolescents; this conference allows us to focus on mental health care for adults and professionals. 

“We often assume that if you are getting up every day and going to work that “everything is fine” when in reality those “functioning adults” may be struggling with mental health concerns and/or diagnosable conditions. These same functioning adults, who are sometimes in more prestigious positions, may not want to reach out for help because of the perceived consequences of people thinking they are not capable of doing their job. Oftentimes showing any kind of emotion can be perceived as weak even if those emotions are in fact regulated. There’s also the stigma of what mental health means in society, and how we stigmatise ourselves. The World Mental Health Day Conference provides training around that idea, along with providing information on different services and supports available in the community.”