Promoting Mental Wellness in the Workplace: The Importance of Prevention and Self-Care

May is recognized as Mental Health Month in the United States since 1949. During May the aim is to highlight the importance of prevention and understanding of different mental health issues and provide resources to support mental wellness.

This year's theme, "Look Around, Look Within" sends a hint that supporting others and looking within matters equally.

Mental health is something everyone should care about and preferably do so proactively.

As we all lack intrapersonal education, we need to learn more about our inner domain to avoid mental health problems.

In May there are also, the Canadian Mental Health Week (May 1-7, 2023, theme #MyStory), UK Mental Health Awareness Week (May 15-21, 2023, theme #Anxiety) and the European Mental Health Week (May 22-28, 2023, theme #ThrivingTogether) all those promote and raise awareness on different aspects of mental health.

While rising mental health awareness matters, taking proactive and systematic action to keep your mind well matters much more. Training your mind to be fit and well provides here the best and also most sustainable results.

Only a trained mind can deal with challenges without suffering, stressing out or burning out. The problem is that the loss of mental wellness happens slowly. Our intrapersonal changes are mostly too slow for the untrained mind to spot. This is true for both the subtle early and the more noticeable late warning sign phases.

What steps are you taking to secure mental wellness for you and your colleagues this May?
 

 

Securing excellent mental wellness within you is about the importance of practical intrapersonal skills that can be used to reduce stress, prevent mental health problems and increase resilience, both in the workplace and in your personal life.

Leadership Responsibility for Mental Wellness

Employers and especially all leaders play a crucial role in promoting mental wellness in the workplace. A fit-minded leader is fair and caring and aims to build a great work culture.

To create a culture that prioritizes mental wellness, leaders should actively promote intrapersonal education that allows secure mental wellness by providing access to proactive mental wellness trainings and other recourses that secure mental sharpness, address the stigma surrounding mental health and when problems occur secure mental health first aid and provide access to support (both psychological and psychiatric support).

Human resources (HR) departments can on top fulfill a critical role in promoting mental wellness by ensuring that everyone trains their mind and by securing relevant employee assistance programs, if needed giving mental health days and also securing flexible work arrangements.

HR professionals can additionally guide workplace policies and accommodations that support employees with mental health challenges. However, for this, they need to understand processes in their own intrapersonal domain.

The logic behind excellent mental wellness is simple - when you understand your own intrapersonal processes, you can also understand what others go through.

Preventing Mental Health Issues Through Self-Care

Individuals can take proactive steps to prevent mental health issues and increase resilience.

Practicing self-care becomes real when you have trained your mind. For example in our online training "Well Fit For Work" we bring out such aspects as getting enough sleep, taking time to rest and take daily pit stops, reducing screen/internet addiction, etc. Also, all our online trainings bring out how to be engaged in stress-reducing activities, keep focus and thrive.

Only when you notice stress and anxiousness and deal with it early on can you prevent burnout, anxiety and secure good health.

Promoting mental wellness is an investment and should always be seen as such.

Investments aren't campaigns. Investment has a good ROI when it is systematic.

As we have told and proven, proactive mental wellness trainings brings up to tenfold ROI. 

While different mindfulness, yoga practices or meditation exercises can help individuals to calm down and feel better, you can't apply those in most active work situations. This is why awareness-based intrapersonal skills matter as you can consistently apply those in all work and life situations.
 

Additionally, intrapersonal skills allow us to build and maintain good interpersonal relations, and this allows for setting boundaries. For example, saying "no" to commitments that you don't have time or skills for, or recourses to complete, is admirable.

Why?

Honest "no" always causes less stress and procrastination and thus avoids failure to keep important deadlines.

Healthy employee relations are earned, just as trust is earned. Earning trust is easy when we are honest with ourselves. Inner honesty allows outer honesty. Honesty prevents and removes toxic relations. All toxic work relations include two main factors – lack of intrapersonal skills and self-leadership and lack of honesty.

We need more honesty in the era where currency printing seems to be a solution to all problems until it inflates everything. The recent political lies and propaganda haven't helped to have good mental health either. Lies, false promises and propaganda make people unwell.

You can't cheat and hope to get away with it. Ultimately such fake systems fail. Thus, we see both health and economic crisis and the way out of them is to focus on sound solutions that secure the wellbeing of all stakeholders.

Workplace Wellness Programs

Workplace wellness programs can help reduce stress and prevent mental health issues by promoting healthy habits and providing support for employees. While those wellness programs can include physical fitness trainings, healthy eating initiatives and mindfulness practices it remains a paradox that direct mind health training programs aren't offered.
 

Life-work integration and more flexible work arrangements

As we wrote in our last blog, better life-work integration and more flexible arrangements, remote and more hours and work rules allow you to combine your unique life situation with your unique work tasks. This, in turn, can reduce stress, prevent burnout and more severe mental health issues and promote mental sharpness.

Employers can provide flexible work arrangements to support employees with mental health challenges, like those with anxiety disorders or depression.

However, by fostering a work environment that supports mental wellness for everyone, employers can increase productivity, employee engagement and job satisfaction. Ultimately this is benefiting the organization as a whole.

When your mental sharpness is excellent and your mind is calm, you make wise decisions.

It feels effortless to solve any task when your mind is relaxed and your focus trained to stick to the topic you choose as long as needed. This is what our online training "Getting Things Done" supports.

A fit mind loves challenging situations and isn't paralyzed by fears. You know the situation can be tough, but continue calmly anyway as a trained mind knows its inner reserves.

A fit mind always seeks solutions instead of getting stuck to problems and initial failures.

Your mental wellness and intrapersonal skills lay the solid foundation permitting you to perform well in all situations, regardless of your position and job or leadership profile. When fit-minded people meet, business becomes less challenging and more rewarding.

Conclusion

Systematic proactive mental wellness training and possessing a fit mind is critical for individuals' well-being, success in the workplace and overall health.

Employers have a responsibility to establish a culture that prioritizes mental wellness. Only if you provide systematic mind health trainings for all employees in your team, can you see tenfold ROI and improve work results at the same time. A fit mind lives and works well.

Also, all individuals and small businesses can now afford to take proactive steps to prevent mental health issues through the mind health trainings that we provide for you and your team.

Training your mind is the sustainable path to secure resilience and excellent mental sharpness. By promoting mental wellness, employers can increase productivity, job satisfaction, and overall health, contributing to a healthier, more productive workforce.