Drowning in the pain of others

Human beings have a limited capacity for trauma.? When that limit is exceeded, it can result in stress, burnout, depression and - in extreme cases - PTSD or Post-traumatic stress disorder.

We’re all different, of course.? And our individual resistance to trauma will vary from person to person.? But let’s assume that we each have a trauma reservoir within us; and that reservoir is designed to hold all an individual’s stresses of everyday life.? It can safely contain work stresses, marital and relationship issues, financial worries together with concerns over children, climate change, war, famine, the performance of their favourite football team, and a multitude of other causes of mental anguish.

Some larger issues might cause a breach in that reservoir - the loss of a loved one, for example.? But your one-person trauma reservoir is resilient and, eventually, it will heal itself to contain this additional trauma.

But what happens when your personal trauma reservoir is required to contain not just your personal and mental issues, but those of dozens of others as well?

Well, apparently, we could soon find out.

You see, we find ourselves in the midst of a mental health crisis in the demolition and construction sector.? Our workers are stressed beyond breaking point; we are losing millions of man hours each year to mental health issues; and the industry’s suicide rate is currently running at almost four times the national average.

And the industry’s solution?? Is it to change working practices to alleviate some of that stress?? Is it to do away with arbitrary completion dates that everyone is racing to meet?? Is it working to remove the financial and employment concerns from the shoulders of its workforce?

No.? It is doing precisely none of these things.? And instead, it has come up with a plan that - if you say it out loud - sounds like something from a comedy script.

Rather than addressing the cause of all this stress and anguish or employing genuine mental health professionals, the powers that be now expect workers to entrust their mental wellbeing to a collection of digger drivers that have received a couple of days’ mental health awareness training.

Now, mental health first aid training is fine.? I know a couple of people that have been through the training.? They claim they are now better equipped to recognise and identify signs of common mental health disorders, such as anxiety, depression, and psychosis.? In truth, the two people that I know who have been through the mental health first aider training were empaths in the first place; my guess is that they could’ve spotted such problems even before their formal training.

However, they also learned crisis intervention techniques; and they learned how to provide ongoing support.?? They were also taught about mental health stigma and how to create a supportive environment.

But here - belatedly - is my point.? Both the people I know already work within or alongside the demolition and construction industry so they too suffer from the rigours and the stresses that are part and parcel of the sector.? However, they are now expected to juggle not just their mental wellbeing but that of several other people as well.? One of my friends who is a mental health first aider has, in the space of a few short months, had to guide two individuals through messy divorces, another through a relationship breakdown, and another through severe financial hardship.

He dealt with them all admirably, I am sure.? In each instance, I am sure he put the individuals back on the straight and narrow and lessened their mental health problems.

But what about his mental health.? How much of that passive stress does he take home with him at the end of a working day?? When he is trying to go at sleep at night, is he still playing those scenarios over in his head?? When he wakes in the morning, does he think about coffee, the journey to site or the working day ahead?? Or is he plagued by the desperate pleas one or more of his work colleagues?

Surely there will be residue?? Surely, over time, even the strongest and most resilient person will be ground down by the stresses of others?? Will they then succumb too?

And what if they do?? Who will be there to support them in their hour of need?? Will the industry start a mental health first aider course aimed specifically at mental health first aiders?

Here’s the bitterest of bitter ironies.? The demolition and construction industry clearly recognises that it has a mental health issue; why else would it have mental health first aiders.

But, rather than seeking outside and professional help to address that issue, it has heaped an even greater burden onto the shoulders of some of the very people that are themselves struggling to hit deadlines, struggling to make ends meet, struggling with work/life imbalance; struggling with job security.

Only in the demolition and construction industry could we look at the mental health trauma of the many and think we might address it by heaping it all onto the few.

This article was written by Mark Anthony, founder and editor of DemolitionNews.com.

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