Mental Health is not solely the absence of mental illness or disease. It refers to our emotional, social, and psychological well-being. It affects how we feel, how we think, and act.
According to statistics of 2017, every 7th person in India is facing some form of mental disorder in varying degrees, which is more than 14% of the Indian population. The majority of these are adult females and working-class people. Depression and anxiety have cost the global economy up to a trillion dollars in productivity as per the WHO.
Mental Health is not a fixed state. Instead, we move up and down a continuum (sequence).
Knowing how to identify and support individuals with mental illness is the key to the holistic success of a company. Given below are some tips to identify and support a person with mental illness.
1) External stressors: — These are individuals with an adjustment disorder. They have difficulty adjusting to a particular source of stress, which is usually due to personal problems. Before you try helping it is important to understand that not everyone facing a personal problem has an adjustment disorder. Use your knowledge and resources to help. If you are the boss of such an individual, encourage them to take time off or use their vacation leaves. Being distracted on the job is more costly to your business than an employee taking a short leave of absence to handle their situation.
2) Hyper Stressors: — These individuals often exhibit poor behavior at work due to an imagined or real threat at the workplace. They display intense emotions such as anger, violence, rage, screaming, crying, or even posting unpleasant things about the company or an individual. It can become difficult to stop such employees once they go on a rampage, but you can prevent the matter from escalating. While handling such individuals stay calm and speak soft, know that an unfueled rage fades away quickly. Ask for help if needed, and always stay within the company’s behavioral policy and procedure.
3)Silent Stressors: — These are highly functional individuals who are masters of managing work expectations and their mental disorders. It is difficult to spot silent stressors as they can perfectly blend in. You could sit next to a silent stressor every single day, yet not know that they have a mental illness. Sometimes it only takes a small push to turn them into external or hyper stressors. However, helping them can be easy. Create routines and minimalize surprises. Knowing what comes next can redirect all the energy of the individual trying to blend-in into doing their job. It is a win-win situation for the individual and the company.
Given the severity of the issue, only a handful of Indian businesses and companies have shown concern towards the mental health of their employees. It is due to the social stigma that leads to neglection, and exclusions.
We need more efforts to destigmatize mental health. Be open to listening to anyone who is going through mental illness.
