As an employer you always prioritise physical well-being, so why not mental well-being?
This is something that’s equally as important and bad mental health could have a really damaging effect on work life. Did you know one in four people in the UK will have a mental health problem at some point? This is a pressing issue that should be supported in workplaces.
What is well-being?
As defined by Oxford English Dictionary well being is “the state of being comfortable, healthy, or happy”, but what does it actually mean?
There’s no short answer to this question as it’s a wide and complicated subject, with many different types of well-being but let’s talk about mental wellbeing. Mental well-being is all about thoughts and feelings and how well people cope with them. Having a low mental well-being for long periods of time can really affect mental health as it could lead to diagnosable conditions such as depression and anxiety.
Impact on working life
Having a bad mental well-being causes negative impacts on working life as if an employee’s suffering with it, then they might not be performing to the best of their abilities. Efficiency and productivity could be badly affected, and quality of work could be lacking. Also, bad well-being could result in your employer taking a lot of time off work as work related stress, anxiety or depression accounts for over 50% of all working days lost to ill health in the UK (HSE 2018).
Also, mental health issues can be classed as a disability and if an employee has a disability as employers you must not discriminate against them because of their disability and must consider making reasonable adjustments.
What can you do?
The way to successfully handling these problems would be to take mental health training or have an employee in your workplace take it. Mental Health First Aid Training courses allows participants to be able to:
- Have a wider knowledge and awareness on mental health issues
- Be able to recognise mental health issues in others and assist in taking appropriate action
- Be able to offer immediate support
- Be able to recognise the signs when someone is a danger to themselves or others
- Spot signs of bad mental health whether it’s psychological, physical or behavioral
Spot the signs
Psychological signs:
- Worry
- Distress
- Low mood
- Low motivation
- Poor concentration
- Low confidence
- Pessimism
Physical signs:
- Tiredness
- Appetite and weight change
- Shakiness
- Sweating
- Breathing difficulties
Behavioral signs:
- Increase in drinking or smoking
- Irritability
- Anger
- Aggression
- Lateness
- Overreaction
How we can help
At Healthscreen, we offer a two day course that’s presented by two MHFA (mental health first aid) trainers, Mark Webb who is a registered nurse and occupational health specialist and Peter Wink who is also a registered nurse and a mental health specialist.
This MHFA England mental health training course is accredited by the Royal Society for Public Health and will meet employers’ first aid obligations and also assists companies to gain the ISO 15001 accreditation when their first aid and welfare provisions are audited.
Find out more about our MHFA training course by calling us on 01455 243700 or Get in Touch with us for more information or email admin@healthscreenuk.co.uk
