Everyone Has Mental Health.

We all have mental health. It might be good, it might be bad – but we all have it. Like physical health, it needs help now and then – so why is there still such a stigma surrounding it?

Let’s put it this way: when was the last time you called in sick because your head wasn’t in the right place? Yeah, I’m betting on never. Oh, and even if you have I’m willing to bet that you roughed up your voice a bit, maybe added a few coughs here and there, you know – so you ‘sound sick’.

If you add to that, a high-pressured job, a hectic commute, too little downtime and an attached attitude that suggests talking about your mental health makes you weak – then you have a recipe for the perfect storm.

A perfect storm that means that the biggest killer for men under 45 is suicide. Those stats aren’t great for women either, with suicide being the overall leading cause of death for people aged between 20 and 34 in the UK. It’s a horrible statistic, but what can we do? The first in this series is going to delve in to ‘what is mental health’.

First of all, mental health is on a spectrum – ranging from good to bad. Mental health (similar to physical health) must be continuously worked on and can vary from day to day. To put it another way, you’ve had a sniffle, cold or flu before, haven’t you? And you’ve also had days where you feel like you could run a marathon whilst chugging kale smoothies. Well the same is true for mental health – you have days where you feel on top of the world and nothing can bring you down, but you also have those days where you barely have the motivation to drag yourself out of bed in the morning. Generally speaking, if you’re in good mental health you can:

·        make the most of your potential

·        cope with life

·        play a full part in your family, workplace, community and among friends.

This has far reaching positive impacts on the workplace, because when colleagues are in a ‘good’ state of mental health they are more likely to work productively, interact well with colleagues and adapt to changes in the workplace. In fact, the value of colleagues who are at work who have had (or still have) mental health issues is as high at ￡225 billion a year – so you can see why it’s important to invest in mental wellbeing.

So, if that’s good, what does mental ill health look like?

Some warning signs to look out for are:

?            poor concentration

?            being easily distracted

?            worrying more

?            finding it hard to make decisions

?            feeling less interested in day-to-day activities

?            low mood

?            feeling overwhelmed by things

?            tearfulness

?            tiredness and lack of energy

?            sleeping more or less

?            talking less and avoiding social activities

?            talking more or talking very fast, jumping between topics and ideas

?            irritability and short temper

It’s also very common, with studies suggesting that one in four of us will experience it at some point in our lives. The really worrying thing is, that colleagues who feel unable to talk to their manager about their mental health may go to work when they are too ill to carry out their duties, which not only can pose a risk to the other employees and business but also worsen the effects of mental ill health.

You’re probably sat there thinking ‘I’m ok, I’ve never felt like this’ – and if you are, then you’re one of the lucky ones. That’s because positive mental health is rarely an ‘absolute state’. There are factors both in and out of work that can tip the scales from positive to negative – moving you up and down the spectrum. Something like a bereavement, relationship breakdown or illness can easily trigger a poor mental state as can:

? Unmanageable workloads and/or demands

? Poorly defined job roles and responsibilities

? Lack of control over work

 ? Unhealthy work-life balance

? Poor relationships with management and/or work colleagues

? Organisational change and/or job insecurity

? Lack of variety in work

 ? Lack of career progression opportunities.

Sound all too familiar? That’s because stress in the workplace is the second leading cause in workplace absences.

The thing is, once you know how easy it is for someone to tip into a poor state of mental health it becomes really difficult to remain ignorant to it. So, what can you, and businesses do to help? Tomorrows article will address exactly that.