Why mental health at the workplace is important
Mental health is a matter that has started to be taken much more seriously in recent times and for good reason. The importance of it cannot be misplaced as it deals with people's lives and mental well-being and why it must be incorporated into every workplace. Studies have found that checking up on good well-being can improve productivity by as much as 12% so mental is crucial to you as an employee as it allows you to fully indulge yourself in your work without any distractions, mental health affects you at the workplace can affect you from different opportunities such as:
Going for promotion.
Outside of the office workplace get-togethers.
Business trips across the country/world.
Effective Teamwork.
The opportunities above show how detrimental being held back by mental health how can be.
The importance of mental health to the business itself
The importance of this for a business can vary through many different ideas as it increases the employee's productivity as they are more focussed on their work rather than situations in their life that are affecting their mind making them present at the job physically but not in their mind. The support of mental health from the business's perspective as well is that if you come out and help individuals they will feel appreciated by the company and this can create loyalty with a worker who is a strong member of the workforce.
It is key for a business to ensure that the mental health issues are not due to issues inside the business such as colleague bullying or intensive work overload. The business needs to find a balance between workplace humor and workplace bullying. Workplace humor can be beneficial as it builds relationships between colleagues and can help with future group work. However, if it is at someone's expense it can fully affect the victim of the bullying's work and well-being and can grow to hate the workplace and result in losing a valuable member.
Different signs of mental health issues in the workplace
Mental health issues in the workplace can be focussed around issues at work or at home and are important to pick up on the signs to help the individual as soon as possible, there are many people around the world affected by these issues and it is your responsibility to look out for your friends and just your colleagues in general. Signs of people struggling with mental health may be things such as:
Change in physical appearance
Reoccurring absence
Excessive worrying
Difficulty focusing
However, this is a subject that is quite sensitive so you need to be kind and caring and only talk to them about it if they are willing, an example of how to confront someone who is struggling is by letting them talk to you, and be the shoulder for them. This will make them much more willing to share information that could be key and you can understand the full issue at hand. You can also use your own experience to make them feel more comfortable and let them know they are not alone.
Different ways to cope with your own mental health at work
You should never stay silent if you're struggling, a lot of people would rather sit down and talk to you and try to help you rather than let you suffer alone. So if you're struggling at your workplace with mental health, whether it work related or outside of work talk to someone, there are no set rules on who to talk to it is just dependent on who you're more comfortable with and better relationship with. A human resource member may be the best idea if you don't have anyone particularly close as they have experience within this sector and are likely to of had training.
You shouldn't allow yourself not to strive for the best you can be, so reach out to people and ask for help, there is never any shame in this no matter who you are. You shouldn't let this hold you back from life-changing oppurunitities and being the person you could be. I am also going to list some helplines below for anyone struggling at this time with nowhere to go in the UK:
Please reach out and get help now if you need it.