Mental health is seldom talked about. This is as a result of the stigma associated with it. Studies, however, have shown that nearly everyone develops a temporary psychological disorder in their lifetime. This makes the outbreak of mental diseases an epidemic that should be given more focus and attention. Researches into mental health have provided insight that as much as half the world population actually suffers from a mental illness. As mental health affects all aspects of an individual life, you might want to look out for your partners, team, and employees and support mental health in the office.
The first step in supporting mental health is by knowing how to detect the signs and symptoms associated with mental health problems. With some people, it is easy to notice when they are going through a rough patch so, detecting mental health problems with this category of people could be easy. However, some people can hide their difficulties with mental health quite well so, you have to know what to look out for. There are certain symptoms that are common with the various types of mental health problems. This article provides information on these mental health problems and their symptoms.
Common mental health problems in the office include anxiety, depression, panic attack, bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder. The first step in promoting mental health in the office is by supporting colleagues who suffer from these mental health problems.
You can identify a colleague suffering from depression if he/ she
- Constantly seeks reassurance
- Get irritable easily
- Is nervous and shows a lack of interest in fun
- Is constantly suffering from fatigue
- Utters suicidal statements and acts suicidal.
A colleague who suffers from bipolar disorder could show these symptoms
- Constantly moodiness
- Impulsive behavior
- Alternating grandiosity and melancholy
- Impulsive Anger
- Fatigue.
You can detect ADHD if the person
- Struggles to finish tasks assigned to him/her
- Is always impatient
- Makes silly, careless mistakes
- Is overactive
Anxiety can be detected in a colleague if the person
- Mostly avoids confrontations
- Is easily startled
- Appears tense
- Is irritable
- Suffers from panic attacks
These are the most common problems affecting mental health in the office. Once you have identified people with mental health problems in your office, you can initiate the following steps to offer them support.
Reassure Them By Recognizing Their Contributions
Talk with colleagues suffering from mental health problems. Remind them of how valuable they are to the office. Avoid associating mental health problems with criminality when talking to them engage in humor when trying to get them entertained. Make research and look into popular people who battled with mental health and survive to make a telling contribution to society and humanity.
Therapy
If therapy isn’t part of your insurance package, include it. Allow your employee free visits to the therapist and see the result. After all, a happy worker is a productive worker. The impact of a mental health professional on people’s mental health is nothing but positive. You can even make therapy mandatory in order to detect mental health problems early and to find solutions for people with mental diseases before it is too late.
To know more how thereby can help, read these great articles from BetterHelp.
Encourage Flexibility
Breaks are very important. They offer people the opportunity to get away from the stress of work and recharge their body cells. Provide the opportunity to go on paid vacation for your employees and encourage them to take these breaks. Also, allow your employees to have the chance for flexible working hours sometimes. This can be arranged without reducing the number of hours they are meant to put into work normally. This can ensure that work doesn’t get boring, tedious and routine.
Create Break Activities
Create break times for employees when they can participate in activities design to promote mental health. Do not stop at creating these activities. Encourage your employees to participate and ensure that everyone is involved. Also, you can create mental health days. Employees can go on mental health leave on these days in a bid to support mental health in the office.
Supporting mental health in the office is a bold move in supporting the movement to eradicate the stigma associated with mental health problems. Providing mental health support for colleagues and employees will go a long way in bolstering productivity in the office. Support mental health in the office by taking the steps discussed in this article.
