World Mental Health Day 2017 10.10.2017
Alvin Lai Oon Ng, DPsych
Professor, School of Psychology, Faculty of Medical and Life Sciences with joint appointment at the School of American Education, Sunway U | Fellow, Malaysian Association for the Study of Obesity | MSCP CP1-0001
Dear Friends,
Today is World Mental Health Day 2017 and the theme for this year is “Mental Health in the Workplace”.
I would like to bring your attention to how important it is to take care of our mental health for it directly affects our productivity and relationships at work. Please reach out to someone if you are facing any difficulties with your emotions, thoughts and habits so that you address them early. Many mental illnesses can be prevented with early intervention.
While we may not have access to counselors at work, there are measures we can take to manage mental health at work:
- Have some quiet time to yourself
- Take short breaks
- Go for walks
- Socialize
- Strengthen relationships at work
Being a clinical psychologist, I have seen many people who seek help late and it takes a long time and a lot of money as well as effort before they get better. Please seek help from a professional if your distress and dysfunction persists for more than two weeks. Don’t wait for your problems to get any worse. There is no shame in having emotional, cognitive and behavioral problems. We are human beings.
If it helps to know, I also seek professional help for my own problems. Yes, me, a clinical psychologist who is supposed to know how to be mentally healthy – also sees professionals to help manage my own troubles. I’m human, too - and there’s no shame in being human.
Just like how you see medical doctors when you have symptoms of flu or sore throat coming up, seeing the counselor, family therapist, clinical / counseling psychologist or psychiatrist are steps to take to prevent the further deepening of psychological problems.
Please have a read of the World Health Organization’s blurb on WMHD 2017 here:
https://www.who.int/mental_health/world-mental-health-day/2017/en/
A free downloadable e-book on Mental Health in the Workplace can be found here:
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/managing-mental-health-workplace
A short article for line managers in managing better mental health at work:
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/blog/benefits-great-line-management-and-good-mental-health-workplace
A report by the Mental Health Foundation UK on the benefits of good mental health at work:
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/added-value-mental-health-workplace-asset
Your mental health is part of your company's productivity.
Thank you and have a nice day!
Kind regards,
Alvin Ng Lai Oon, DPsych,
Associate Professor / Head,
Department of Psychology,
School of Science and Technology,
Sunway University.