RICS charity reports increase in mental health issues

HEALTH AND WELLBEING: As part of Mental Health Awareness Week EG will be covering the property industry’s response to mental health issues throughout the week. Ahead of the John O’Halloran Symposium in London today today, RICS charity LionHeart said a quarter of people contacting it for support in the financial year 2016-17 went on to receive counselling. This was a similar figure to the previous year but the number of enquiries coming in to LionHeart increased from 301 to 390, a 24% rise. Chief executive Davina Goodchild said: “LionHeart has been seeing an increase in the number of calls from people with stress, anxiety, depression and other mental health challenges increase steadily over the last few years. This increase indicates two things: first that high-flying professionals with successful careers are not immune to mental health problems and secondly that they are starting to be more willing to ask for help.  We want people to seek help when they need it and we want the issue of mental health to be one that everyone is aware of and open about. We hope that through the John O’Halloran Initiative and the events we are putting on people across the industry will challenge themselves and their employers to consider how they can build a better environment for everyone.” To send feedback, e-mail julia.cahill@egi.co.uk or tweet @egjuliac or @estatesgazette