Useful resources for employers
Watch the webinar
Activities to try
Overcoming vulnerability – what to do if you feel vulnerable
Life can sometimes be difficult for us all, but for some it can be particularly hard. Worries about health, finances, relationships and life events affect everyone to some degree, but for someone who may not have the life skills to deal with these challenges, the world can seem a scary place.
This topic will help you to understand the factors that can lead to someone feeling vulnerable, signpost to practical and emotional support available, and explain some simple tools and techniques to help overcome these feelings.
So why not watch the webinar, to help you understand more about the factors that can lead to feelings of vulnerability and get hints and tips to help overcome them. There’s also a supporting toolkit to download along with an informative poster and digital banners to help your company share the activities with your colleagues and signpost them to further support.
What is vulnerability?
‘Vulnerability’ relates to a person’s susceptibility of being exposed to harm, both physical and emotional. Depending on a number of factors some people may be more susceptible than others. This doesn’t make them a weaker person; it simply means that for one or more reasons they may be impacted more by a given situation.
What are some of the causes of vulnerability?
There are 4 main drivers of vulnerability: health; life events, resilience (emotional and financial) and capability.
Health
Life events
Resilience (financial and emotional)
Capability
Problems associated with vulnerability are more common than you may think:
- 46% of UK adults (24.1 million people) have displayed one or more of the four characteristics that act as drivers of vulnerability (1) A recent survey of UK adults found that (2):
- 28% felt the cost-of-living crisis is having a negative effect on their mental health
- 38% are worried about rent and house prices
- People between 26 and 41 were most likely to feel anxious over finances with 49% of this age group saying they are worried about living costs
Sources: (1) FCA Financial Lives survey 2020 (2) Forbes Money and Mental Health Policy Institute report 2022
Resilience: “The capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.”
The Oxford English Dictionary
Read the blog article
Life can be a challenge. We all have difficulties from time to time. Feelings of vulnerability can often be related to health, money, relationships and life events.
Visit the NHS website
Visit the NHS to find out more on how to deal with life’s challenges.
Webinar: Overcoming vulnerability
The vulnerability webinar, lasting 10 minutes, is full of information to help you understand more about:
-
What vulnerability is
- The causes and factors that drive vulnerability
- Why it can be difficult for someone to talk about their vulnerabilities and what to do if someone wants to talk to you
- The support available for someone feeling vulnerable
Click here to download the resources mentioned in the webinar
Useful resources for employers to download
To help your company promote the activities to your workforce and signpost to support, we’ve designed an A4 printable poster, digital banners to use on social media or your intranet page and a handy toolkit which includes exercises and helpful handouts to help your employees overcome vulnerability.
Feel free to download and share, print and put them up, or email them to your employees.
Toolkit
This downloadable toolkit includes exercises and links to help support your employees and introduces simple tools and techniques to help them overcome vulnerability.
Poster
This poster will help to raise awareness with your employees about vulnerability. Feel free to download, print and put up or share it with everyone you work with via email.
Digital banners
You can use these digital banners to signpost employees to available resources. Use them on your own wellbeing hub, intranet or on your internal social media channels.
Activities to help overcome feelings of vulnerability
“Mirror, mirror on the wall – I am the greatest of them all…”
”Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re probably right!” – Henry Ford
A positive mindset is a powerful thing. Self-belief can take you a long way, not just in life but in overcoming feelings of vulnerability.
If we are to be honest with others about our vulnerabilities, then we should probably start by being honest with ourselves first. This starts, not with the areas we find difficult, but with the things we are great at.
Try out this technique:
- Look at yourself in a mirror and then talk to yourself – out loud not in your head!
- Tell yourself what you are good at
- Tell yourself what you are going to do/achieve that day
- Give yourself positive affirmations – I am great because…
- Think through what you need help with and find support
You may find it a bit silly and uncomfortable to start with, but practice makes perfect and taking this positive approach to recognise your qualities, can help to build self-esteem and boost confidence.
When you are able to talk openly to yourself, you will find it easier to open up to someone else.
Here are a few examples to get you started, I am:
- a good listener
- a super friend / partner/ parent / sibling
- thoughtful and caring
- great at crafts / DIY / sport / cooking
- the best maker of cups of tea
“Give your table some legs…”
Imagine your life is like a table. Normally a table needs 4 solid legs to keep it up. If one of these legs is weakened then the table becomes less stable. Take one away and it may even fall over! Keeping the table’s legs in good repair is one way to keep it up, but if your table has more than 4 legs, having the one wobbly leg won’t make it fall over!
The ‘table legs’ in your life may be things such as your job, family, friends, sports or hobbies, or your health and wellbeing. It’s important to look after these by spending time with family and friends, making the effort to do the things that make you happy, taking regular exercise, etc.
Making sure you have variety (more table legs) in your life is also important. If we spend all our time and effort on one thing, and that suddenly becomes a little bit wobbly, it can lead to us feeling vulnerable with little else to focus on.
The below activity sheet is ‘Handout 2’ in our toolkit – why not download the toolkit and spend a little time making sure your table has enough solid legs to stay upright, even when life does become a bit of a challenge.
Useful links
All the videos and links to further information shared below, have been peer reviewed, continue to be free at the time of writing this campaign and can be used to read, learn and contact others in order to support you.
Addiction
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/addiction-support/
Menopause
https://menopausesupport.co.uk/
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/menopause/help-and-support/
Money worries
https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/tips-for-everyday-living/money-and-mental-health/
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/
Bereavement
Child care support
https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/
Cancer
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/cancer/
Redundancy
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/redundancy/check-your-rights-if-youre-made-redundant/
Infertility
We can feel vulnerable for many different reasons. Maybe you’re worried about recent mistakes you’ve made. You could be feeling overwhelmed by your health due to the recent challenges in the NHS or financial security due to the cost of living crisis.
Here are some ‘top tips’ to help you try and be BRAVE when overcoming feelings of vulnerability.
Be positive
When we feel vulnerable it can become easy to dwell on how difficult things are. These negative thoughts only make us feel worse which can make the situation harder. Focus on what you can and will do to improve things. However small these are, they encourage you to see a better, more positive future.
Remember you can’t be everything to everyone
One cause of vulnerability is the fear of letting people down. Sometimes you must put yourself first. This isn’t you being selfish, it’s you simply being honest and knowing your limits.
Access support
No matter what you are going through, there is someone out there who can help. This support might be practical, helping you solve the problem, or emotional, someone who simply listens to your worries.
Value what you have
An ‘attitude of gratitude’ is a powerful tool to help improve your emotional resilience. Writing down all the things you are grateful for in life can encourage you to see the world through a different set of eyes.
Embrace your mistakes
You are only human. Sometimes you will get things wrong. These ‘lessons in life’ can give you a wealth of experience to draw on moving forward. Not only can they help you to make better choices, but they can also help you to offer support to others.