World Mental Health Day: Fostering Mental Health at Work

October 10 is celebrated as World Mental Health Day when people all over the world fight for people’s awareness of mental health problems and call for the support of mental health services. This day has gained importance year after year after it was started by the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) in 1992. Over the years, it has grown into a huge movement that has taken countries and all forms of organizations to take part in addressing issues arising with mental health (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
World Mental Health Day

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Shattering the Stigma of Mental Illness

An objective reached each year through World Mental Health Day is the fight against the prejudice linked with mental health problems. In the past, people with mental health disorders were considered deviant or even not given any attention, which caused stigmatization of those with such disorders. The campaigns conducted on this day are to emphasize that like any other aspect of a person’s health, mental health is important and everyone deserves good care, support, and compassion.

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Mental Health at Work: This Year’s Theme

The focus for WMHD 2024 is Workplace Mental Health. This focus stresses the paramount importance of the relationship between the psychological health of employees and their working conditions. Interactions, schedules, and working environments in which an individual spends most of their time, clearly affect mental health. The case of a healthy workplace culture improves employees’ mental health, whereas a toxic environment tends to cause stress and even more severe mental health issues.

This theme is very relevant given the demands life in the twenty-first century work presents. However, it is sad that with the outbreak of COVID-19 which has introduced drastic changes with regards to culture of work, remote working, overworking and economic instabilities, the subject of mental health at workplace is becoming topical. Owners, workers and policy makers are urged to work towards creating physically and psychologically healthy promotion for mental well-being at the workplace in form of work-family interface, stress and mental health policy.

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Mental Health at Workplace

Cognitive problems at the workplace cause decreased work output, employee lateness, and increased cases of attrition. For instance, in the view of the World Health Organization (WHO), depression and anxiety only consume approximately $ 1 trillion of productivity all over the world each year. Mental health issues should not only be treated as the right thing in the workplace, but it might also be the best thing for the business.

Much can be done at the organizational level by simply ensuring that employers effort to design working environments that are receptive to the needs of those with mental health issues. This however requires the provision of services such as counseling services, yoga days, flexible working time, and accessible forums where employees feel free use to their mental health requirements.

Global Campaigns and Initiatives

It is a type of global campaign, in which governments, NGOs, healthcare facilities, and people themselves, engage in events and programs dissemination of the action. These campaigns may include informative sessions, fairs, awareness sessions, a week, a month, or days focusing on specific mental disorders and ways through which people can seek assistance in case of difficulty, use of social networking sites to create awareness and encourage people to look for professional help when in need.

Promotion for mental health has picked up pace with more famous personalities and firm rooting for the cause. Campaigns for raising awareness of mental illness have led to the establishment of mental health policies, an expanded range of mental health service delivery, and affordable mental health treatments across several parts of the world.

How You Can Contribute

There is nobody who should not engage in supporting some type of mental health work, within one’s self and within one’s sphere. No matter if you aim at promoting informative videos, and campaigns voting for changes for employees with mental health issues in your company or organizing and participating in events on World Mental Health Day, you can also contribute to changing the world for the better.

In light of this year’s World Mental Health Day, its is important to examine the progress that has been made and the challenges that remain. This year the focus moves to a topic that concerns us all with the theme being "Mental Health at Work". Mental health matters everywhere, be it in our homes, at the workplace, or within our neighborhoods for people to be and function optimally. It is crucial to go on to combat the stigma and create a basis for people to get or seek help for mental disorders.

Reference:

1. World Mental Health Day - (https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-mental-health-day)

Source-Medindia