Not all heroes wear capes. Mental health and coffee breaks…

We have all experienced a team member coming into the office in a bad mood.?

The situation can quickly turn into a nightmare for everyone in the office. Banging phones, keyboards, grunting, furrowed brows and firework short fuses are a recipe for disaster when it comes to office ambience.?

Moods aside, this is not the only indication that someone could be having a bad day. Flustered colleagues appearing more frantic than usual, acting unusually quiet, subdued or distracted. Even the most? subtle changes could be a subconscious cry for help.?

Instead of treating people like a ‘grenade’, tiptoeing around them or even worse confronting aggressively. Step up, take your cue, be a hero, give them a break…..?

The fundamental problem and unspoken taboo here, when it comes to mental health in the workplace, is that most sufferers learn to mask the symptoms from their colleagues and management.

This is through fear of rejection, shame, ridicule, or even worse, the prospect of losing their job!?

I have worked in offices where I have heard senior management discuss mental health, often openly, below are some verbatim quotes that I have mentally carried with me throughout my career;?

?“ There’s no such thing as mental health, we don’t believe in it, it’s just an excuse, a load of shit”’

?“No one wants to be around a moody bastard all the time”.

?“Oh she’s probably on her period, you know what she's like”.

“What, not him again, he shouldn’t be working here if he can’t keep his head in the game”.

As someone who has suffered from mental health personally, I am ashamed to admit that I have been guilty of masking and hiding symptoms from my colleagues and management due to all of the above reasons. It’s no wonder that only 12% Of employees facing mental health issues feel happy to confide in their boss. Or that 12.7% of all sickness absence days in the UK can be attributed to mental health.?

The good news is that the shame and stigma around mental health is changing. Awareness and understanding around mental health has eradicated some of these outdated and uneducated views that were prevalent just a few years ago.?

The old school methods of shaming, ostracizing and bullying employees, is no longer accepted in today's society. Mental health is not going away. It is here to stay. 1 in 6.8 people experience mental health problems in the workplace. Employers are all putting things in place but this doesn’t mean that you don’t have to. So what can YOU do to help any of your colleagues who could be suffering?

7 ways you can help your colleagues;

1. Take them out of the office - Taking someone out of a pressure pot situation will immediately ease their anxiety and enable them to relax.?
2. Don’t make a big deal of it ?- They are already conscious that everyone is looking at them, that they are standing out, be calm and softly spoken, people tend to mirror your actions.
3. Buy them a coffee - The smallest gesture goes a long way for someone suffering, just being considered and heard will help more than you could imagine.?
4. Put an arm around them - If you are close to them, or comfortable enough doing so, put an arm around them, comfort them if they get upset, small gestures of kindness mean the world to someone suffering.?
5. Let them talk - Allow them to explain what has triggered them, just listening to someone who is having an episode and letting them get the problem off their chest will feel like a weight has been lifted for them and they will thank you for it.?
6. Ask if there is anything that you can do to help - This will allow them to advise you what they do or don’t want you to do, some people just want to be heard and are afraid to speak to people in case they take action, which often they don’t want.
7. Offer support - If the scenario triggering them is something that they want to rectify, offer your support or help, this will give them the push that they need to sort the root cause of their problem.

The smallest of gestures can make a huge difference.?

?“In a world where you can be anything, be kind”.?