Why trust is key to tackling mental health issues in the workplace

I remember back in the 1980s and 90s when mental health issues were really impacting me massively at work. The idea that I would speak to a supervisor or a manager was completely alien and I’d say plenty others were probably in the same boat.

Back in the day it was a stigma. I didn’t talk about how I was feeling because, back then, you didn’t. You didn’t want to own up to the fact that you were ill because that would be showing weakness.

I’d wake up in the morning and I would call my boss and make all sorts of excuses – tell him a lot of rubbish really – because that was better than being stigmatised or tarred with the brush that I wasn’t well.

And even if I did speak up, and I know this is true even to this day in businesses, there was that fear that supervisors, managers or directors, would look down on you as being unwell and have serious considerations as to whether they want ‘that type of person’ working with them?

You shouldn’t think that. You should have complete confidence in the fact that companies should offer this help and this support mechanism, without you being in a position to feel you could lose your job.

I’ve heard of some companies, especially in this country, where they are appointing and training ‘mental health champions’. We have fully trained first aid representatives in organisations and I believe these people are of equal importance. Someone who can identify the signs if a colleague appears to be struggling.

In the interview process, companies buy into you and after a few months they know you and how you work. So they should be able to notice if you’re not yourself.

And I’m not talking about HR because there’ll always be a fear, rightly or wrongly, that they’ll go back and inform management and then you’re back in that worry that it might count against you in your six-month or annual review.

It’s ok not to be ok

I know now that I was ill for a very long time. It certainly impacted my professional life as I flitted from job to job. And it also had a hugely negative effect on my personal life as I ruined relationships.

Now I’m not saying I would’ve opened up to a ‘champion’ at work or even taken the help I obviously so desperately needed, but with the power of hindsight, it would’ve been good to have had that option. To have been able to ask, ‘if I’m not feeling great, what are the options open to me?’

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We’ve come a long way. There’s a lot of companies doing great work around mental health in the workplace and it’s great to see the conversation is becoming more common place among society in general.

Over the last couple of years, companies have been using Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) and these are not just for the employee, but also their extended families and it’s completely confidential.

Mental health kills more men than any other illness on a yearly basis. It’s getting to a level worldwide where, in the next ten years, it will be the next pandemic. We’ve gone through Covid and we still are and hopefully we’re going to come out the other end very soon. But this stuff never goes away and, to be fair, it is living off of Covid, people are suffering with anxiety, stress and depression as a direct result of the pandemic.

Not just on the business side and working from home, as you have and I have and other people are, but the pressure of doing the business and hitting targets, when less people are spending money or doing business with you, because everyone has got to reel in their spend and what they’re doing as revenue streams have dropped dramatically.

Each person within a company runs a business within a business and that’s a lot of stress. Going down to the small classifieds guy who needs to hit a target of a couple of grand a month – he is running that business, you’re putting that pressure on him and that trust, so he needs to be able to trust you back.

I think you’ve got to be a bit stand-offish as a manager, but at the same time you have to talk to the people who work for you, because they work with you.

It’s not easy, but we’re definitely heading in the right direction. There may be some way to go, but at least we’re going.

* Mental health symptoms can include sadness, emptiness, a loss of interest or pleasure in activities you used to enjoy and work, a change in weight, a difficulty sleeping or oversleeping, an energy loss, anxiety, agitation or restlessness, slowed thinking, speaking or body movements, feelings of worthlessness and thoughts of death or suicide.

Anyone suffering difficulties can contact a WhatsApp support line 8004673, which is available from 8am to 8pm; or contact Al Amal Psychiatric Hospital in Dubai on 04 519 2500.