What Does ‘Recovery’ Mean?
Often, when I deal with health professionals and people in training, I get a range of responses when they learn that people can recover from mental disorder. Some are surprised, some intrigued by the concept since they’ve
Mental Health
Building a mentally healthy workplace: 5th Pillar
Mutual responsibility is another trait of mentally wealthy workplaces, where a culture of blame is replaced by a culture of shared concern. From a workplace safety perspective, if someone sees a cord in the office over which someone could trip, whose responsibility is it to
If you are asking ‘R U OK?, you are a little late
Here in Australia, we recently celebrated RUOK day. Its an annual reminder to check in with friends and colleagues on their mental health. I think it’s a great initiative, bringing much needed awareness to mental health issues, in an attempt to reduce
‘Work-Life Balance’ is a trap
A colleague of mine was putting together some guidelines for her company about how to minimize workplace stress, and stay mentally and emotionally well at work, and she asked me to have a look over it and provide some feedback. Looking at the list of strategies her company had
What Can YOU Do About Stress at Work?
When it comes to workplace stress, and what to do about it, most people, most managers, will start to think about things in the workplace environment. Things that I would call ‘external factors’ like workload, overtime hours, the physical environment, etc. And these are all good considerations.
Workplace Stress – what are we really talking about here?
‘Workplace Stress’ is a term I am hearing people use more and more lately. And I like it. It highlights the fact that anybody can experience stress or distress in the workplace. You see, the Workplace Mental Health Institute specialises in the field of
How is your workplace’s Mental Wealth?
Back in 2014 I coined the new term ‘Mental Wealth’. Workplace Mental Wealth describes the business potential of an organization, as a direct result of how well it fosters the mental health of its people. But what is it exactly? It’s a measure of your organization’s ability to…
Why do so many workplaces fail at mental health?
There seems to be this idea floating about in the business world that in order to be profitable and productive, one needs to be hard and tough. Yet another contradictory idea seems to be that mental health is fluffy, soft, weak. Many people’s idea of…
Why 65% of people won’t get help if they have a mental problem
The reasons as to why people do anything, are many and complex. The research shows that around 65% of people won’t even seek treatment if they experience mental distress. The World Health Organization (WHO) says that stigma, discrimination and neglect prevent
Building a Mentally Healthy Workplace: 4th Pillar
What do mentally wealthy organizations differently to others? Good question, right? What Mentally wealthy organizations do is they see resilience and wellbeing as an integral part of their culture, in the extraordinary cases – it IS their culture. It’s not just an add on. Think back to
A dummy in each hand and one in the mouth – values and the smart manager
This morning as I reached into my pocket I felt a weird, clunky thing. I didn’t know what it was but then it hit me, a dummy! My son’s dummy (“pacifier” for our international audience) How cute…
Is Mental Health Really Getting Worse or Are We Just Talking About it More?
Across the ages, people have always experienced mental health issues. Whether it was overwhelming anxiety, depression, or even ‘psychotic’ episodes, which in past times would more likely have been explained in a spiritual reference…
How can I address stigma in the workplace about mental health?
According to the studies, 9 out of 10 people experience some kind of discrimination in relation to mental health, and one in 10 employees have resigned as a result of feeling unsupported with a mental health condition. Many people think that the key…
Taking care of the bottom line through good mental health
When someone does have something difficult happening in their personal life, the approach of the manager at work can make all the difference as to whether they spiral downwards and end up needing time off or whether work can become a haven for the person.
When is the right time to talk about suicide?
It’s a beautiful morning. Its cold outside but the sun is shining. I’m sitting in a café across from the water starting my work day. And it hits me, today 8 people in Australia will take their own life. 8 people will feel so desperate, so alone, so hopeless,…
Two roles a manager should never play
Perhaps the main reason leaders get themselves into trouble is they aren’t clear on their role when resolving an employee mental health issue. There are two roles you should never take on: Counsellor: It’s not your job to counsel the employee and, in fact, doing so is…
We didn’t do anything wrong, but somehow we lost
Remember Nokia? I had a couple of their mobile phones once upon a time. One of my favourite phones, in fact. It was small, sleek, silver. Easy to carry. Easy to use. And stylish. It was perfect until…smartphones came on the scene. Why do I tell you this?
What If People Do Not Want Love?
I was talking to a group of Aboriginal leaders recently and one of them, in the break, asked me, tongue in cheek, this question, ‘What if people don’t want love?’ And because my message is always centred around compassion, this is relevant. I encourage managers to use
Building a Mentally Healthy Workplace: 1st Pillar
I’m guessing that you are probably a manager and that you don’t need much convincing that working in a mentally healthy place is imperative. And you would also agree that managing mental health issues at work can be tricky. I agree! That’s why today I want to share with you one of The 7 Pillars for a Mentally Healthy Workplace.
What’s The Real Impact of Toxic Workplaces?
There seems to be general consensus on this one: some workplaces are a haven to work in and many others are toxic. Having a workplace where people can thrive is good business, and helps avoid a litany of problems. But, this is not just a one sided topic. Even in mentally healthy workplaces…