Workplace Mental Health

Promoting mental health in the workplace is no longer convenient, but necessary. The first step is to create a wellness solution that supports the well-being of our employees. In addition to financial benefits, your work can bring meaning, structure, and purpose to your life. It can also give you a sense of identity, increase your self-esteem, and provide an important social exposure.

However, working in a negative environment can have the opposite effect and have a serious impact on your emotional health. Prolonged hours, lack of staff, lack of support, unclear management about roles, goals and tasks, bullying and workplace harassment can increase stress levels and cause mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, and substance abuse.

Red Flags to look out for!

We all have bad days at work from time to time. You may have a hard time concentrating, be overly stressed, frustrated, unappreciated, or lack the energy and motivation to complete even the simplest tasks. But if you feel this way every day, it could be a danger signal that something is wrong.

Many psychological problems can slowly creep into you. Ignoring the early signs of the problem does not solve the problem. It only gets worse over time, making it vulnerable to illness and other health problems, causing burnout, and damaging job performance, relationships, and personal life.

Symptoms of mental health problems vary widely depending on the symptoms and the affected person, but it is important to be aware of changes in thinking, feelings, and behavior.

Some of them to look out for can be:

• You have a hard time keeping up with your daily responsibilities at work (and at home and in social life).
• You have problems concentrating on your work, or you have problems with your memory, your thoughts, or even changes in your speech patterns.
• Changes in appetite and sleep or increasing reliance on drugs and alcohol to cope.
• Mood swings, feeling hopeless, helpless, constantly nervous or suicidal ideation.
• You lose interest in aspects of the work you previously enjoyed, give up on your previously favorite hobbies, and move away from friendships and social activities.
• You may be overly suspicious of others at work or personal life, or suddenly nervous or anxious in certain situations.
• You are sensitive to sight and sound and try to avoid situations that may seem overly frustrating.
• Unexplained pain such as headache, upset stomach, and or muscle pain.

Managing mental health and work

Mental health care at work is not just about dealing with present mental health problems. Tools to improve resilience, job performance, and better address future uncertainties and challenges by caring for emotional health, even if you are not currently facing mental health problems. Some ways to do this may be to seek professional help from a psychologist or psychiatrist. You can rely on wellness and rehabilitation centers that not only support the treatment of depression and anxiety and other psychological concerns, but also provide psychotherapy and support to adapt and cope.

The following tips one can use at an individual level:

• It’s important to find a healthy work-life balance. This means taking regular breaks all day and turning off the screen after work. Instead of responding to business calls, emails, or other messages 24/7, it’s important to focus on friends and family, relax, charge, and enjoy.
• To reduce the negative effects of stress and protect mental health, the body’s relaxation response needs to be activated. This can be achieved through relaxation techniques such as meditation, deep breathing, rhythmic exercise, and yoga.  
• A good night’s sleep, a healthy and nutritious diet, and regular exercise can make a big difference in your mental health at work and elsewhere.
• These are also aspects of your life where you have more control than many at work. The more you focus on self-care, the better you feel.
• Even if you don’t like your job, you can find ways to derive meaning and purpose from your work. Focus on how your work can help others, such as providing important products and services and enjoying relationships with colleagues.
• Finding opportunities to continue education and take work-related courses can also help make your work more meaningful.
• Building mutually supportive relationships with colleagues, working together as a team, and having fun together can help reduce stress and improve the mood of work. Try to work in groups and teams and try to be more social during breaks and outside the workplace.
• Building resilience can help you overcome the recessions of your career and personal life and maintain a positive attitude, withstand stress, anxiety, hopelessness , depression and other concerns workplace problems can cause.

An important part of taking care of oneself may involve holistic care involving all of these tips mentioned above, with an added bonus of professional support of the best treatment, at rehab and wellness centres. One such place to get both the guidance and support to do it could be Veda wellness and Rehabilitation, one of best luxury rehab centres in India providing its clients with a holistic provision of treatment and care.