Is there a mental health emergency in the workplace?
It’s so annoying when people copy you. Trends come and go, and you remain a loyal supporter while those around you revel in newness. I sometimes feel this way about mental health. I’ve been working in and around the space for a decade. Since the onset of the pandemic, more and more people have swarmed to my work-hot-spot. Yet, instead of being annoyed, I simply need to welcome them, pull out a chair and ask them to tell me their story.
Is there a mental health emergency in the workplace?
‘Of course. Tis always been thus’, I sigh, thinking back on the various mental health projects that I’ve worked on. These include a wellbeing project with Education Scotland, consulting and working with See Me (Scotland’s National Programme to End Mental Health Stigma and Discrimination), working in student mental health and training as a Scottish Mental Health First Aid Instructor in 2015.
Since 2015, I have applied mental health first aid in various situations. There was the time a woman, highly distressed and intoxicated, was on the last train home from Edinburgh and, through non-judgemental listening, I found out that she was lost, had struggles with psychosis, had not been taking her medicine and I had to call her mother to find us. There was the man who stayed locally during the pandemic whose concerning behaviour had me intervene and phone social services with him. There were the various friends, volunteers and acquaintances over the years who have shared suicidal thoughts with me, unable to tell anyone else.
Photo credits to @esdesignisms via Upsplash.
Increased awareness highlights knowledge gaps.
These were all mental health emergencies. Yet, the mood is different right now. Since the pandemic, there’s been a shift to a sense of urgency, and unravelling, a pandoras box where the dust is trying to settle in a new inclusive and informed way, but currently feels like a sandstorm. It feels more like an emergency because people are finally saying that they are not okay. With increased awareness and media campaigns, knowledge gaps are highlighted. We grasp at the latest webinars, thinking we can cram-revise for an upcoming wellbeing exam that will expose our stress-fuelled-cultures.
Here's the good news (we need it). I have absolutely nothing new to tell you. I cannot give you a magic three-step-cure. It’s hard, it’s messy and complicated – but we have all the resources we need. Back in 2018 I did a consultancy project on an audit of workplace mental health resources. Since then, my inbox has been filling up with more toolboxes and toolkits.
We need to take this information and act.
The emergency feels less daunting when you have a first aid kit in your brain already, and you have proactively taken preventative steps.
Photo credits to @kellysikkema via Upsplash.
Here’s ten key things to act on now:
1. Assess yourself– not every organisation is at the similar age of mental health maturity. See Me has identified key foundation building blocks to make change, such as senior leadership buy-in. First, take stock of where you are.
2. Know how to talk about mental health – language is power. Mental health is not synonymous with mental illness. A ‘mental health condition’ is something which may be medically recognised that affects your mood, thinking and behaviour. This may cause you to be classed as ‘disabled’. This can also be referred to as a ‘disorder’ but many feel that this has negative connotations. Mental health can include positive mental wellbeing, or lack thereof. Everyone has mental wellbeing and that is something that can be proactively looked after. Mind has useful guidance on how to have conversations about mental health.
3. Inclusive policies – yes, you can have a specific health and wellbeing policy, but also review the others, such as sickness absence and substance use, to see if inclusion is embedded throughout. Mental Health At Work has loads of resources on policies.
4. Mental health training – be specific about what you want to achieve with learning. Are you looking to get more people talking about mental health, have managers better equipped, have people ready to support someone in crisis? There’s a good guide from NHS England on various courses available which gives a useful overview of the variety of courses available.
5. Reasonable adjustments – support for mental health proactively through adjustments can ensure long-term wellbeing, create supportive environments and foster open conversations. ACAS explains requests, responding and examples of adjustments.
6. Wellness Action Plans – every employee should make one of these proactive plans on how to stay well and how to help if things aren’t so great. A practical tool to structure a wellness conversation.
7. Workplace Champions – some organisations have dedicated people trained to champion better mental health, but it is essential that this role is well-defined, clear boundaries are set and it is clear whether they are for first-aid situations or for challenging wider stigma.
8. Campaigns – mark your diary now with the various awareness days linked to mental health, which always is a good way to kick-start some conversations.
9. Communicate your commitment and support – if you have an Employee Assistance Programme, wellbeing days, or any other investments in wellbeing, then consistently communicate, encourage and monitor these. These are not to be relied upon ‘in case of emergency only’, but a key upfront investment.
10. Involvement of lived experience – throughout all actions, embed lived experience. This shows genuine investment in mental health and provides invaluable insights.
And if you do all ten things, an emergency will be averted…
Um, well, maybe.
Brains and humans are nuanced and complex. It’s what makes us brilliant. Humans, the most valuable of resources, deserve to be safe and well. That’s why there is a mental health emergency – workplaces know that we need to act now. No one can make this stuff easy, but I can certainly make room for your chair and listen to your story. The conversation is just beginning.
