The past nine months have been difficult and there are many who have struggled with poor mental health due to the changes we've had to face.

GP and a Director of Population Health in the NHS, Dr Andy Knox, said: “We are living in tough times together right now and I know that many of us are struggling, so it’s important to look after our mental health during the weeks and months ahead.”

The advice comes at the same time as a study conducted by remote building company Wildgoose, found the mental health of workers across the country was being negatively impacted due to working from home.

The study asked employees from 133 companies whether they could identify issues with team communication, desk setup, or working hours with their remote working environment, and just 22 per cent of respondents stated that they had no issues.

Respondents were asked to detail how their working day differed at home compared to in the office, whether they would be happy to continue working from home after lockdown ends for a third time, and how companies could improve home working practices. 

One of the biggest concerns for people working from home was the lack of communication and social interaction they have with their colleagues, with more than half of respondents highlighting that they missed seeing workmates face-to-face and spending time with them.

The main findings showed three out of five employees stated they missed seeing their workmates and spending time with them face-to-face, while 56 per cent said they'd like more social contact with their workmates as part of the working day and more than half stated that their mental health was being impacted by isolation at home, a sub-optimal working environment.

Among the most common problems were:

• Not taking the health and safety recommended hourly desk breaks 
• Failing to take breaks for physical activity or stretching 
• Uncomfortable and impractical desks and equipment 
• Working excessive hours 

Wildgoose managing director Jonny Edser said: "Remote working has presented challenges for companies of all sizes.

"In smaller companies, that sense of connection and camaraderie is key to a healthy and productive working environment.

"When you take away the tea breaks and office chats, teams can struggle to stay motivated at a distance, which makes regular team building exercises more important than they’ve ever been."

To help with maintaining good mental health during the latest national lockdown therefore, Dr Andy Knox has provided seven basic tips that if followed each day, could be used to improve your mental health:

A – Ask for help - If you are struggling with your mental health right now, if you have found yourself in a really low place and you can’t get out of it, if you are having any thoughts of ending your own life or hurting yourself or other people in some way, then ask for help.

B – Breathe - When we’re anxious or stressed or worried, often our breathing rate increases and that can make things worse, so deliberately slowing your breathing down where you’re feeling anxious or worried, can really help.

C – Connect - Pick up the phone, use Zoom or FaceTime or MS Teams or whatever you’re using and make sure you connect with people that you know and that you love. Conversation is so good at helping improve our mental health.

D – Develop a daily routine - It’s important that we have things to do, things that we can achieve – just set out basic things and try to stick to them, for example, getting up at a certain time, having some breakfast and then getting on with some tasks that you set yourself..

E – Eat well and exercise - What we put into our body has a massive effect on our mental health. So, try to eat a rainbow diet of vegetables if you can, particularly focusing on your greens, think about things like chickpeas and lentils and fish is also really helpful, and try to get out for a twenty minute walk once a day.

F – Focus on today’s activities  - Worrying too much about the future or the unknowns ahead of us isn’t going to help. Focus on today, focus on the tasks in front of you and be mindful doing them.

G – Be grateful - Think of three things to be grateful for every day before you shut your eyes and go to sleep. Being grateful will make a massive difference to your mental health.

Dr Knox concluded: “These seven tips are fairly straightforward things that you can do every day to look after your mental health and wellbeing.

"We can get through this time together but it’s not going to be easy, so try these basic things: look after yourself, look after each other and let’s take care of our mental health.”

Deputy Director for Mental Health for Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care System, Paul Hopley, said: “I cannot emphasise enough the importance of looking after our mental health during this latest lockdown.

"This will be a very difficult time for many people, just after a tough Christmas and an altogether challenging year.

“Most importantly, make sure you ask for help if you need it.

"The NHS is still here for you and there are many services, both NHS and others, that can help to support your mental health during this time.

“Anyone struggling should call Samaritans on 116123, the National Debtline on 0808 808 4000.

“There is support available to help you with your mental health and wellbeing, including free access to online counselling and support services, support specifically for children and young people, information about mental health support and crisis lines and details of local and national mental health services.

"Visit healthierlsc.co.uk/MentalHealthSupport for more information.”

Watch Dr Andy Knox’s video: youtu.be/RneOrUUyLiw