Management of companies must take leadership on developing a culture on mental health in the workplace.
This is the belief of psychiatric nurse Ryan Lewis, who addressed the Mental Health and the Young Worker seminar hosted by the Labour Department and the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and the Third Sector at the Warrens Office Complex, Warrens, St Michael, recently.
Lewis said such leadership on mental health only came from the person who believed there was value in having those things in the workplace.
“If the person at the top doesn’t believe in it, then they are not going to encourage a policy or committee to be established to have this because they will see it as a waste of resource and a waste of time,” he explained.
Lewis said situations people experienced were responsible for creating a mental issue and a business could only be as successful as its individual parts.
“An institution’s greatest asset is not the latest technology, AI or the tools they get to make work great; it is you the employee that makes it work.”
He called for people in leadership positions to preach about mental health and take up the baton, as it was their role to set the tone for a mentally stable workplace.
The psychiatric nurse said workplaces also needed to adopt a culture where mental health was openly discussed and employees felt comfortable seeking help without fear of repercussion.
“They need to offer mental health resources, promote empathy and conduct regular awareness sessions that could help to break the stigma of mental health,” Lewis said.
Consultant psychiatrist Dr Keo Forde-St Hill said mental health and depression impacted employees’ overall performance.
“Depression impacts workplace productivity as you can imagine. Any mental health issue affects your productivity. Billions of dollars are lost in productivity, medical, pharmaceutical and disability costs.
“So, you add up all that. You have to take sick leave or you’re claiming your medical insurance. You’re not able to fully function at work. You’re not giving your employer any value for money,” she said.
The psychiatrist said grief also played a role in impacting mental health and it was different for each individual.
“Grief is unique for each person. Everybody grieves differently and for different periods of time. It depends on the relationship that you had with the person who died.
“It is not just a loss of a person, in terms of death. It could be grieving your marriage, grieving a long-term relationship, grieving the loss of your job, grieving the loss of your former self or your functional self when you are ill for an extended period of time.”
Forde-St Hill said grief could become serious when it led people to harm themselves and others.
“Nobody can tell you how to grieve. Where we come in is when it becomes problematic and you’re being a danger to yourself or other people.
“If this is resulting in you drinking more or doing things to harm yourself, that is when grief becomes a problem; but if you cry every day, cry and do what you have to do.”
Professor of management and organisational behaviour in the Department of Management Studies at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus, Dwayne Devonish, advised those in attendance to maintain their mental health and wellness.
“When we talk about mental health and we link it to wellness, it means that we have mental health but the things that we do at times put ourselves under strain when we could have avoided it.”
He outlined the nine dimensions of wellness included in the National Workplace Wellness Policy – physical, psychological/mental, environmental, social, intellectual, occupational, spiritual, cultural and financial well-being.
Devonish said it was the employers’ duty to provide resources for their employees to cope.
“Even in the workplace I tell people, ‘You cannot tell somebody to take off their personal problems and put it at the door and come in to work.
“You are human beings. If you are being abused at work or something is affecting you at home all of these things come to affect you wherever you are. Employers have a responsibility to provide resources or counselling for their employees.” (AJ)
The post Take lead on mental health, bosses urged appeared first on nationnews.com.