World Mental Health Day: No Health Without Mental Health

World Mental Health Day is celebrated every year on the 10th October. The theme for this year 2017 is ‘Mental Health in the Workplace,’ which perfectly reminds that good health includes physical and mental well-being. Today marks the 25th //anniversary of World Mental Health Day to create awareness about mental health issues and to fight the still-associated stigma.

One in four adults in the UK experience mental illness at some point every year. Nearly 62.5 percent of professionals across sectors were found to be suffering from stress, anxiety, and depression.

In a 2017 April report, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that people living with depression are more than 300 million. Although official figures for India are not calculated, mental health experts assume that about 10 percent of people are suffering from depression.

People suffer from stress or anxiety or depression due to feeling insecure at work, fear of losing the job, work overload or under-load, unrealistic deadlines, career uncertainty, poor communication at the workplace, interpersonal conflicts, sexual harassment and so on.

The visible symptoms of anxiety and depression in an individual include sleep disturbances, loss of appetite, fatigue, weight gain, body aches, mood swings, lack of concentration and emotional outbursts.

Work-related stress can lead to absenteeism, physical illness, poor performance at work, tension and conflicts among employees, anxiety, depression, alcohol or substance use, and finally, thoughts to commit suicide.

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Create a Healthy Workplace

Modern life is fully packed with new pressures making people breathless. Most individuals spend their time at work, which has the tremendous effect on health.

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Mental health experts believe that a healthy workplace can improve productivity and better financial health of the organization.

The company policies lack mental health care programmes. However, the HR can help employees involve in decision making, reward them for good performance and can also assist their employees in handling stress, anxiety or depression by having yoga classes and workshops for relaxation.

Mental health and psychiatric disorders are still in a maturing phase. Lack of awareness and confidence in medical or clinical help can increase the challenges for mental health at the workplace. Therefore, there is an urgent need for mental health programs at workplaces.

Manage Mental Health Problems

Individuals can also manage their mental health problems by balancing their work life and being alert of their stress levels.

Mental health can be treated and prevented naturally by exercising regularly for one hour a week can decrease depression, reveals a study done among 33,908 Norwegian adults for more than 11 years. Individuals who did not exercise showed a 44 percent increase in developing depression when compared to those who exercised one to two hours a week.

Insomnia can be treated with online Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). This, in turn, can help in treating mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. Helping others was also found to have both physical and mental health benefits.

”Let’s remember that there is no health without mental health,” said Dr. Shekar Saxena, Director, Mental Health and Substance Use, World Health Organization.

Reference:

Mental health in the workplace - (http://www.who.int/mental_health/in_the_workplace/en/)

Source-Medindia