Why Mental Health First Aid in the Workplace is Important
Nowadays, first aid kits are an essential part of any office. The physical health of workers is something a workplace has to guarantee. Any problems that might occur or any misdemeanors may lead to major problems for both the worker and their workplace. Such incidents often end up in ugly lawsuits amongst other distasteful outcomes.
However, with so much focus going towards physical health, many companies have missed the importance of mental health. Mental health is a huge issue that most workplaces experience, yet mental health first aid in the workplace seems to still be just a pipe dream.
Instead of ignoring it, workplaces should accept the danger and risk that mental health poses to them and take the necessary measures required to reduce or curb that risk. Let’s take a look at why mental health first aid in the workplace is so important and how to go about it.
How Does Mental Health Affect Workplaces
According to studies, nearly 40% of all office workers happen to be suffering from mental health issues. Whether it be an overabundance of stress, anxiety, or depression. Mental health is increasingly becoming prevalent in society, and in offices where people have to put in long grueling hours, it seems to be festering. Moreover, one out of ten people suffering from disabilities start off from mental health issues and end up going down the path of disability. In conclusion, each workplace has dozens of people that could be suffering from mental health issues and, if left unchecked, could take a turn for the very worst.
How to Curb this Growing Problem
The best way of curbing this increasingly scary problem is by promoting mental health first aid in workplaces. By taking measures to ensure the betterment of your workers, you ensure a decrease in the likelihood of them being burnt out by their mental health issues, or something much worse. Ensuring mental health first aid is essential for workplaces in modern times with mental issues growing in the populace. It’s something workplaces have to give the utmost care to and ensure that it is implemented without any faults.
How to Introduce Mental Health First Aid in the Workplace
Introducing mental health can be a challenge since it is still a very new concept. There are some firms that actually do help workplaces find an appropriate mental health first aid program and implement it as well. However, it will still be hard to have it up and running. One of the major problems with mental illnesses and the people who suffer from them is social acceptance. People do not normally accept mental disorders and can shun those who suffer from them, causing severe isolation for the patients.
Therefore, to properly introduce and implement a mental health first aid program, you need to have all of your workers on board. They need to be educated about the problems and the solutions and need to know that they will face those problems together. Each and every worker is vital and only when they come together can a mental health first aid program succeed in a workplace.