Mental Health and Workplace Stress Management Training
Mental health is a state of well-being in which an individual can cope with everyday stressors, work productively, reach his or her full potential, and contribute to their community.
Mental health in the workplace refers to employees’ psychological, emotional, and social well-being within a shared work environment. to the extent that it leads to new and creative outcomes. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices.
Work-related risk factors that can harm mental health
Employee mental health can be negatively affected in the workplace due to:
- Inadequate health and safety policies
Workplace health and safety policies aim to protect the well-being of employees, visitors, and customers. They also protect employers. Workplaces with poor health and safety policies may decrease employee mental health, lose staff, risk prosecution, and reduce profitability.
- Poor communication and management practices
Kind and engaging communication and management practices are the mark of a good manager-employee relationship. Poor communication and practices, on the other hand, create strain on the relationship, create poor mental health, and increase workplace stress.
- Low levels of support for employees
Managers who don’t help remove obstacles or share resources with employees can contribute to employees feeling overwhelmed and unmotivated. For instance, rather than expecting employees to figure out tasks that they’re unclear about, managers should demonstrate how to complete those tasks and stay available for questions.
- Performance pressure
The expectations of employees to constantly perform at peak levels puts unreasonable pressure on them. It leads to an increase in workload and work hours, added stress, and emotional exhaustion.
How can mental health issues affect my job?
- Poor mental health leads to demotivation and lack of focus. When we have workplace mental health issues, our minds wander or fixate on our problems, making it difficult to regulate our thoughts and emotions.
- Poor mental health can reduce job performance since it makes accessing the behavioral skills that foster creativity and resilience all the more challenging.
- Reduced physical capability and daily functioning
- Poor mental health may lead to misinterpreting or over-reacting to colleagues. It may come across as speaking with a passive-aggressive tone, being a poor listener, or having a negative attitude.
- Poor mental health can lead to a lack of impulse control, unhealthy thoughts, and poor decision-making.
