October 10th is mental health awareness day
#MHAD #MentalHealthAwarenessDay
Mental health is an often talked about subject these days. Years ago people had nervous breakdowns and were given Valium to help them get through the mundaneness of life. Things have changed immensely, but the problem keeps getting bigger and bigger.
When there is a problem, we often like to find out why it’s happening. There are so many factors involved from unsatisfactory jobs, to amount of hours worked, to poor management and structure, to bullying and lack of understanding. Many reasons people become self-employed is that they burn out in the workplace.
But even being self-employed is stressful if you don’t get the life/work balance right, the number of times I have supervised a therapist who can’t get the clients at the right time of day, or number needed to pay the mortgage.
If you run a business and you’re fed up with employees always being ill, absent or non-effective, then it could be a mental health issue. I provide confidential one to one sessions for employees, helping them bring the best out of them. If an employer helps finance the therapy needed, this can be a great help to both them and the employee.
Case Study
A call centre HR manager contacted me to help with the fast turnover of staff. She wanted to help as training individuals turned out more expensive than helping them stay and develop within the company. She referred individuals who she felt could be given some help with lateness, sick days and productivity. All the employees responded well to therapy, helping them to sleep better, give up smoking and to be able to handle stress at work more effectively.
At the end of the period I saw the HR manager, she reported back to me that the line managers hadn’t complained about the staff I saw. She was pleased it had made a difference. The company paid for 25% of the sessions, which made it much more affordable to the staff.