World Mental Health Day 2017

Today, Tuesday 10th October is World Mental Health Day – a day aimed to raise awareness of current mental health issues affecting society. The theme this year is mental health in the workplace.

I’ll start by asking you a question: Would you tell your boss you were going to take a day off work due to a mental health problem?

Sick days should be used equally for both mental and physical health, however recent data shows that isn’t the case. In the UK last year, workers took 137 million sick days, with 15.8 million of these being for a mental health problem. To put this into perspective, 34 million sick days were taken for coughs and colds1. One in five people are estimated to be suffering with mental illness at any one time, so why don’t the figures reflect this?

Of course one of the reasons the figure for mental illnesses looks comparatively low could be because they are under-reported – some people may prefer to call in and say they have the flu if they are worried about prejudices at work. People may also be reluctant to take a day off at all if they are struggling with an illness like anxiety, feeling instead like they should be able to carry on. If you had hurt your back and couldn’t move, most people would view this as a legitimate reason to take some time off. But what if you’re struggling to get out of bed due to depression?

 

world mental health day

 

There are several reasons why it makes sense for us to be more open about our mental health at work, without it affecting our rights or how we are treated. The recent positive response of a director when one of his workers took some days off for her mental health shows how actually having the conversation around this topic at work can break down some of the perceived stigma around it. Hopefully the publicity surrounding cases such as these will encourage others to take time off to deal with their mental health when they feel as though they need a break.

As well as the obvious advantages of creating a supportive working environment there are also economic benefits of improved mental health in the workplace. It has been estimated that 91 million work days are lost each year due to mental health problems, with a total cost to employers of £26 billion – or £1035 for every worker in the UK2. This isn’t just due to sick days, but staff turnover and reduced productivity too. When people are happier and healthier their performance will improve – these figures show it pays for companies to care about their employees mental health.

If you’re struggling with your mental health at work, or work as a manager and want to make your workplace a more supportive environment then Mind have some great resources – find them here. 

 

 

  1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40593256
  2. https://www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/employment-the-economic-case

0 thoughts on “World Mental Health Day 2017”

  1. As much as I am open about my mental health and even at times at my work place, I would not be confident to phone work and use my mental health as one of them, for lots of reasons. I am having a PIP assessment tomorrow and god knows what I will be like after the assessment, I was a a mess before when it was just just cancelled. I put annual leave for last time, but because there wasn’t enough notice for the next one, it means there is no annual leave used and i am hoping I will get through shift later that day after my assessment. If i have to put in a sick, then using my mental health as one of them it won’t be. I don’t feel they take it seriously enough as they try to make out, because what they say and what happens later are two different things.

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