Compass Pathways

When it comes to mental health, everyone has a story: either our own, or that of a loved one, friend or colleague.  By sharing our stories today, we can show people that they are not alone. Together, we can make a difference. If you or someone you know needs urgent help, please contact your doctor, the emergency services, or a suicide hotline.  US:    Crisis Lifeline: 988 (Call or Text)      UK:   NHS 111 (Call)   Samaritans: 116 123 (Call)  SHOUT: 85258 (Text)     #WMHD2024 #WorldMentalHealthDay

Thank you to all the PhD students who presented their work in neuroscience to us yesterday–Dasha Anderson, Jamie Thomas, Aurelija Ippolito, Drummond McCulloch, Tate Askey, and Elsa Oakes. We look forward to hearing more from you in the future!

Congratulations to our team members who presented data from our research study on the economic impact of treatment-resistant depression in the US last week at AMCP Nexus in Las Vegas.   

Thank you for being our Community Wellbeing Lead and helping us build a neuroinclusive workplace, Leora Mofsowitz.

I’m pleased that our paper on the impact of antidepressant drug discontinuation prior to investigational psilocybin treatment for treatment-resistant depression has recently been published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research. Congratulations to the team who worked on this. 

My wife went back to work earlier this month, and I began the continuation of my paternity leave. After being on leave for a while now, I wanted to write a few thoughts down: 1) I am very grateful to my company for letting me work from home, especially after my first two weeks of leave. The first two weeks were a complete whirlwind when our son was born, it felt like I just blinked and I was back to work! Whilst I was able to help my wife and get the early bonding time with my son, it did not feel enough time. However, being able to work from home meant I could help support my wife when I had my lunch break, or any moments where I was free from meetings. I was also able to see my son's first smile, hear his first laugh, witness his first roll and first crawl. I never would have been able to experience these things if I was office-based every day. 2) The extended paternity leave should be compulsory everywhere. After 8 months of maternity leave, my wife is back to work, and I am now the primary caregiver 😂 I'm thankful to Compass having an extended leave policy for new fathers as it allows me to have more bonding time with my son whilst also feeling fully supported by my company. I've been able to take him to swimming classes, sensory play clubs, comedy clubs (yes there are comedy clubs where you can bring your baby!) and music sessions. 3) Parental leave is not a holiday! Whilst a few people have joked that paternity leave is one (myself included at one point), I can tell you it isn't! I even thought about adding it to my LinkedIn experience, as these past weeks have developed some of my skills, including: a) Problem solving and communication: Why is my son crying? Is he hungry? Does he need a nappy change? Perhaps he needs burping? It's difficult to communicate with someone whose only words are "dah" and "eh". However knowing his noise cues, you can deduce what the initial problem might be. b ) Managing and mentoring: What can we do to help develop his walking? Give him surfaces he can help pull himself up to first. Add more objects around for him to transfer to. He's showing interest in climbing the stairs, let's help support him! Let's read to him and teach colours! c) Time-keeping: I thought babies would nap and eat when they want...however there is a thing as over-tired and I learnt this the hard way. Tracking and keeping to his food and nap times has been a challenge, but after learning what works for him, we now have time windows for meals, naps and bed time. Now I need to develop this schedule for myself! 4) I have a greater appreciation for working parents. Whilst I was working, my wife would take care of our son, sometimes also after 5pm. I have a lot to learn from working parents and admire now how much extra they need to work on top of their jobs. Thank you Compass Pathways for supporting my time on paternity leave, I know my son really appreciates it too! #paternity #paternityleave

This year’s Black History Month theme is “Reclaiming Narratives” and we’d like to say a huge thank you to Peju "The Spark" Abuchi IAMB for joining us in our London office yesterday and giving our team a fascinating talk on this topic. Peju is a speaker, poet, and coach. Her talk focused on the meaning behind reclaiming narratives, and how it can impact mental health and wellbeing.

Despite growing awareness, mental health stigma and discrimination is still widespread. Many people fear talking about their mental health challenges due to worries about employment and social acceptance. This needs to change. Thank you to the World Health Organization, the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, and Global Mental Health Peer Network for developing the Mosaic toolkit to end stigma and discrimination in mental health. Together, we can build a world free from mental health stigma.   

Thank you to Brit Wanstrath and Meg Delp from NAMI, who joined us last week for an inspiring discussion for World Mental Health Day. We're proud to be a NAMI Corporate Supporter and are committed to prioritising mental health in our workplace.  

We're proud to be a StigmaFree Workplace.