Mental Health in Workplaces – Mental Health Day – 10 October 2019
Workload, work performance pressures, long work hours, deadlines and demanding schedules, professional relationships are some of the issues that can cause stress at work and may lead to mental and physical health outcomes. Mental health has serious effects on both personal and work life. Our Emotional, psychological and social well-being is an integral part of our Mental health.
The state of Mental Health in India is abysmal. “In India, WHO estimates that the burden of mental health problems is of the tune of 2,443 DALYs per 100,000 population , and the age-adjusted suicide rate per 100,000 population is 21.1. It is estimated that, in India, the economic loss, due to mental health conditions, between 2012-2030, is 1.03 trillions of 2010 dollars.”( WHO website)
It’s imperative that Mental Health at workplaces is paid heed to holistically as the intellectual health of employees is connected to their mental and physical health.
On the Mental Health Day let us all individually pledge to do the needful stated below to achieve the best mental and physical health.
•Accept that talking about mental health is not taboo. Be aware that mind and body are deeply connected and so understand that mental health has a huge influence on the overall physical health.
•Be open and talk about Mental Health issues and ask for help when required to avail of positive coping skills rather than bottling it all inside.
•Be proactive in taking care of our mental health the same way we take care of our physical health when unwell.
This is about self- care and spreading awareness and taking actions individually and in the same manner organisations have a responsibility to embed health and wellness intrinsically for a win-win situation towards increase in employee engagement, less absenteeism and more efficiency.
The most important requirement for spreading knowledge about Mental health in organisations is Leadership training / sensitizing, Self awareness and Social awareness on Mental Health for Leaders as that can help de-stigmatise it and empower the employees by creating supportive work culture. When Leaders from their position of authority and influence promote open communication about Mental health, Verbalise and also inspire others to speak up about it, support others and lead by example then a healthy organisational culture is developed. This leads to productive changes both humanely and economically in team organizational performance.
Regular Workshops in Workplaces for employees on stress management, NLP for Wellness, Training, Coaching and Counselling for Self Awareness, Work life balance, Emotional Intelligence, Yoga, Laughter Yoga, meditation and Visualisation etc are necessary as learning processes for further actions to strike a balance in all aspects of their life: social, physical, spiritual, economic and mental.
So let’s create a better workplace culture all across wherein it’s safe to speak about mental Health and reach out for help when needed. A workplace where there is no judgement, discrimination and fear to talk about mental health and where people are Aware, empathetic helpful, responsible, supportive and compassionate is one which is positive, progressive and productive – A happy, healthy and dedicated workforce is vital for the success of any organisation.