To many people, the terms ‘Mental Health’ and ‘Mental health problem’ mean the same thing. The truth is; we all have mental health (just as we all have physical health) and 1 in 4 of us will experience a mental health problem in any given year.
Mental health affects everyone. It is a continuum and anyone can be at any point on that continuum at any point in time. Just as we can have positive emotions, we can all experience problems with stress, anxiety and low mood from time to time.
1 in 6 employees are likely to experience problems with stress or a mental health problem at any one time and this can significantly impact on business.
A recent CIPD (Chartered Institute for Personnel Development) study found that out of those who are stressed at work:
- 57% find it harder to juggle multiple tasks
- 80% find it difficult to concentrate
- 50% are potentially less patient with customers/clients
In addition to this, two surveys of 586 senior decision makers from businesses in Great Britain and 1,150 employees, conducted by YouGov in January 2015, showed:
- 32% of employees say stress and anxiety make it difficult to get their work done
- 93% of businesses say that personal worries and stress can adversely affect staff performance at work
The fast paced society that we live in means that it is harder to maintain a good work life balance and with this means increased stress for individuals. Although this is the case, shockingly the same YouGov survey found that only 7% of businesses have discussed emotional wellbeing or mental health with their employees in the last year.
This has to change. Raising awareness of mental health within workplaces will help reduce stigma and encourage those with problems to come forward earlier, therefore helping them to recover faster. Helping employees to access the support they need will help to reduce absenteeism, presenteeism (loss of productivity) and will save businesses money in the long term.
Mental Health is everyone’s business. Make it yours by helping to improve your employees' mental health with our Resilience and Stress Management Training Course, or with any of our other wellbeing at work training courses.
You can also contact us today on 0121 271 0550 or via email info@altruistuk.com for support and advice on raising awareness of stress and mental health in the workplace.