Residents were encouraged to take full advantage of available resources to build their mental resilience as World Mental Health day was celebrated today.

Kim Wilson, the Minister of Health, noted that the observation’s theme for 2025 focused on the prioritisation of mental health in the workplace.

In a video message, she said: “According to the World Health Organisation, safe, healthy working environments help protect the mental health of all employees.

“Unhealthy conditions including discriminatory practices, harassment and poor working environments can have a negative impact on their mental health and also on their overall quality of life.

“This negatively impacts businesses as it results in reduced workplace productivity.”

Ms Wilson said that ways to improve working conditions included normalising conversations about mental health, providing access to mental health first aid education and developing workplace mental health policies and frameworks.

She added that training could be provided for managers and staff to help identify early signs of mental distress and that access could be expanded to mental health services and employee assistance programmes.

The minister said: “Prioritising mental health in the workplace is not optional, it is essential. But it’s perhaps even more important that you take charge of your mental health.

“Although I am not in Bermuda today, I want to impress upon each person who lives in our island home the importance of looking after your mental health with the same vigilance that you use for your physical health.”

She encouraged residents to support friends, family members and co-workers where possible.

The Bermuda Hospitals Board noted that its Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute is the lead provider of mental health services locally.

Anna Neilson-Williams, the BHB’s chief of psychiatry and chief of staff, said: “Thanks to a government grant, our services for both children and adults are provided at no cost to the client.”

Services offered by the BHB include inpatient psychiatric and psychological care, outpatient and community-based psychiatric and psychological support, community-based support for people with intellectual disabilities as well as drug treatment and public education programmes.

Members of the public were invited to learn more at a free Mental Health Expo from 10am to midday in the social centre at MWI on October 25.

Dr Neilson Williams added: “The theme for World Mental Health Day this year is ‘It’s time to prioritise mental health in the workplace’.

“We provide mental health first aid courses regularly at MWI in Devonshire and we are happy to provide them elsewhere in the community, including where you work.”

BHB’s interactive mental health first aid course allows participants to learn about specific mental health conditions and gives them a better understanding of how to recognise and interact with people who may have these conditions.

“The more people who take the course in a workplace, the more likely that work environment will be supportive of employee mental health and wellbeing,” Dr Neilson-Williams added.

Karen Grant-Simmons, the board’s clinical director of mental health services, said: “We at BHB join the health minister’s call for employers to provide training for their managers and staff in mental wellness and in identifying the early signs of mental distress.”

Angela Gilbert, the BHB’s director of allied health services, encouraged the public to attend the MindFrame PhotoVoice Exhibition at the Bermuda Society of Arts in City Hall, with submissions from BHB clients, before the showcase ends on Monday.

• For inquiries about the provision of mental health first aid education in a workplace or for a community group, e-mail mhfa@bhb.bm. Courses run monthly, with the next scheduled for October 14 to 15 from 9.30am to 5pm at MWI. To register, visit bermudahospitals.bm/mhfa