Depression, Anxiety And Mental Health Illnesses At Work: Raising Awareness And What You Can DO

We all know that mental health illnesses are becoming more common as the days go on, especially in the workplace. More awareness is being raised, but not at the rate many of us are hoping for. I will be sharing the latest statistics along with my experience with mental health at work. Let's take a closer look:

Statistics in the United Kingdom show that in the last four years, more than 45 million working days have been lost due to employee's suffering from a mental health illness such as depression and anxiety. Mental health issues are now the largest reason for absence from the workplace in 2017 and the numbers keep on rising. Here is another thing that may shock you: More than half of business managers, supervisors and leaders have been approached by their staff that suffer from a mental health illness and only 14 percent of companies actually have a formal policy in place for mental health. 

Clearly, there are many factors that may be causing an individual to feel depressed or anxious. However, many people think that when it comes to their life in the workplace and their life outside of the workplace, these matters should be kept separate in the exact same way as we go about different parts of our daily routines. This attitude is completely the wrong idea to have. Yes, if you are just looking for attention and become stubborn and arrogant in relation to curing any issues, you should not be pointing the finger at your boss. Begin by taking some responsibility on those terms. However, if you are suffering from something deeper than attention seeking and you feel that not enough is being done about it at work, continue reading on.

If you are reading this and happen to be one of those people that expects someone or yourself that may be suffering from a depression or mental health illness to keep this separate from your workplace or other daily go-about's as it may affect other members of staff, or decrease sales, you are foolish and showing zero signs of compassion and empathy. If it is you that is suffering, stop being so harsh on yourself and start showing yourself some love and kindness, only then will you be able to let in the same thing in return (see my write-up on the Law Of Attraction http://realismwitharronnicoll.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/what-you-desire-does-not-matter-unless.html). 

If you are a manager or a leader of certain teams at work, stop putting money and your selfishness ahead of another human being that is just as equal and has the same rights as you do. However, take in the information that I am giving you and you could change this foolishness. How can somebody carrying a mental health illness learn to cope with the burden on small occasions, let alone on the big occasions such as hiding it from dozens of people each day if they are not given the right guide to do so? 

Money is important in order to keep a company at it's peak and to continue to grow, however, if a member of staff has been blamed for feeling depressed or anxious, or their boss does not listen to what they are trying to tell them, expect resentment to kick in, and in the long run, your brilliant team of hard-working staff will eventually fall apart if you do not listen to them. He or she will become closed off, resulting in less motivation and desire to work, leading to an increasing amount of absences and possibly, the loss of employees. Policies must be either changed or enforced if we are to get staff and business leaders back on the same side, but due to employees having less power in the workplace as far as what is being said and done, it is up to the leaders, managers, supervisors, owners and HR departments to take on this task for the better and be rewarded with happier, motivated employees. It seems like a small challenge to fix with a much greater reward at the end, doesn't it?  

It saddened me to hear from a former boss of mine, that the staff in this store are very closed off and do not like to talk about anything that happens outside of work that has begun to affect them inside of work. It got me thinking, one, why don't some staff feel comfortable speaking with managers about something that is causing them pain in the first place? After all, aren't employees and employers meant to be a team? Aren't they meant to get along and be-friend each other in order for business growth and desire to listen to ones boss be achievable? Secondly, this is another clear example that we must be made to feel comfortable to talk openly to not only our colleagues, but bosses if we do not feel right or in other words, if we are going through a very challenging time in our lives. 

For most of us, we attend a full time/part time job that takes up at least 5 out of 7 days of our week. The fact that 80 percent or more of our lives revolves around going to a full time or part time job should possibly be a sign that the area in which we spend 50 percent or more of our time in, should make us feel comfortable and welcomed in order for us to remain happy and motivated when undertaking our daily tasks. 

If you would like to be a part of making a change in the workplace for the better, watch the video below and click the link to sign a certificate in order to continue raising an important and life-changing subject. You never know who you may be helping and how much of a difference you are making to someone's life.

"A certificate isn't going to solve it all, but it's a damn good place to start". - Macklemore

https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/pledgewall