Good health not just physical

Published Friday May 2nd, 2008

Mental Health Week challenges us to think about the way we react to mental illness in the workplace

Next week is national Mental Health week. The Canadian Mental health Association has chosen "Mental Health: Make it Your Business" as their theme this year, emphasizing the ways in which mental health is important to everyone.

It is estimated that one in five Canadians will personally experience a mental illness at some point in their lives. That doesn't take into account those dealing with things like stress, grief or maintaining a balanced life.

More and more, employers are starting to care for their employees' mental health. Whether it's through an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) that provides access to counselling or the installation of an air hockey table in the break room, the importance of a work-life balance is clear.

More importantly, employers and mental health professionals are working together to reduce, and hopefully eventually eliminate, the stigma attached to mental illnesses, especially depression and anxiety disorders.

Anyone who has been affected by mental illness knows what a devastating effect it can have on a person's ability to retain or obtain employment. The lack of understanding about mental illnesses and how successfully they can be managed stands in the way for many potential employees.

While most people will treat those with physical illnesses - whether short term or chronic - with compassion and sympathy, mental illness is much harder for many people to accept.

Your co-workers are more likely to accept a day off due to a cold, for example, than for an attack of depression.

A potential employer will likely look past chronic allergies, but may balk at a disclosed anxiety disorder, even though both conditions can be treated with medication and therapy.

So, while employers who encourage workers to take care of their minds just as they would their bodies are to be applauded, it is time to take this one step further. It is now our job, as a community, to change the way we react to mental illness.

Only with understanding and acceptance can we move forward as a society.

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I believe it's important for all employers to understand the physical dynamics of these emotional disorders. Anxiety attacks and depression take a toll physically on the body. You may feel weak, for example when you have a cold virus but people who suffer from depression also experience physical weakness within their symptoms.

And I'm sure anyone who has experienced an anxiety disorder would safely say that they would trade in an anxiety attack for a 103 degree fever with aches and pains anyday.

Education is key here. And it's high time as well that companies and organizations start implimenting wellness programs for their employees. The better their employees can handle stress the better they can get their jobs done.

That's my two cents,
<a href="http://www.livebeyondstressandillness.blogspot.com">Diana Bertoldo</a>
Health and Wellness Coach
www.livebeyondstressandillness.blogspot.com