How to Support Mental Health at workplace?

In times of today when mental health is more than a necessity it is high time to normalize topics around employees mental health at the workplace with the purpose to identify and assess burnout rise and making it easier for the employees to get the organization’s support they are in dire need of before reaching the crisis point.

According to Forrestor about 26% of companies have programs for helping the “silent sufferers” who are struggling with deadly anxiety and depression. We spend a major chunk of our lives at workplaces hence having a fulfilling job can be good to one's mental health and having a good mental health leads to having a sense of purpose, energy to do the things we want to do, making most out of potential and above all ability to deal with the challenges of life. This is all because mental health is more than just not having any illness rather it is the way we think, feel, and our ability to deal with ups and downs. Mental can fluctuate with the change in circumstances because in the end the journey of life isn't a linear one.

Hence it is pertinent to support mental health at work and for that following baby steps can be taken:?

1. Helping employees to reduce stress
2. ensuring that employees are taking time away from their work
3. Keeping a keen eye on signs and symptoms that might indicate silent suffering
4. Creating safe spaces?
5. Developing the training programs for empathy and compassion building
6. Informal check ins with employees to create a sense of belonging

As said earlier addressing mental health concerns is the most important need of today’’s time hence it is highly pertinent to have a good understanding of how mental health impacts your employees and their work performance because according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 80% of adults with depression reported at least some difficulty with work. Hence, high time to support mental health at workplace by:

1. Increasing Awareness
2. Ensuring work life balance
3. Developing Mental Health policies?

Workplace that promote mental health and promote people suffering silently are more likely to reduce absenteeism, and to increase productivity because risks to mental health results in:

1. Inadequate health?
2. Poor communication
3. Limited participation in decision making?
4. Low level of self esteem?

A healthy workplace is where mental health is protected and promoted. Hence, supporting mental health at the workplace is more than a necessity. Concluding the discussion by adding the guidelines from World Economic Forum that highlights steps organizations can take to create a healthy workplace:

1. Awareness of workplace environment and how it can be adapted to promote mental health?
2. Learning from motivations of organization’s leaders and employees who have taken action?
3. Understanding opportunities and needs of individual employees, to develop better policies?

By: Kashaf Imran

References

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How to support mental health at work. (n.d.). Mental Health Foundation. Retrieved March 26, 2022, from https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/how-support-mental-health-work

Mental Health and Substance Use. (n.d.). Mental Health and Substance Use. Retrieved March 28, 2022, from https://www.who.int/teams/mental-health-and-substance-use/promotion-prevention/mental-health-in-the-workplace

Mental Health in the Workplace. (2019, April 10). CDC. Retrieved March 28, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/workplacehealthpromotion/tools-resources/workplace-health/mental-health/index.html

Rawe, J. (n.d.). Workplace Mental Health: How to Support Employee Mental Wellness. Understood.org. Retrieved March 26, 2022, from https://www.understood.org/articles/en/workplace-mental-health-5-ways-to-support-employee-wellness

Shekeryk, N. (n.d.). How to Support Emotional Wellness in the Workplace. Limeade. Retrieved March 26, 2022, from https://www.limeade.com/resources/blog/emotional-wellness-in-the-workplace/

Supporting mental health at work. (n.d.). Acas. Retrieved March 26, 2022, from https://www.acas.org.uk/supporting-mental-health-workplace

Waters, S. (2021, May 21). Mental Health in the Workplace: Why Is Support So Important? BetterUp. Retrieved March 28, 2022, from https://www.betterup.com/blog/mental-health-in-the-workplace