What is Mental Health?

Mental health is more than the absence of mental disorders. It includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being, and affects how we think, feels and act. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community.”

Another important thing about mental health is that it never stays the same and can fluctuate as we see changes in situations and life stages.

Symptoms and Signs

Mental health issues can have a lot of varied symptoms and signs. At work, we might notice the following signs that may be the cause of our slipping mental health.

• Getting drained easily or more than usual.
• Making errors and mistakes that are out of their character.
• Being short-tempered.
• Finding it difficult to motivate ourselves
• Time management is hard
• Emotional outbursts
• Increasing absenteeism
• Appearance might change than how they dress normally
• Bad sleeping patterns
• Increased drinking habit

 

Possible Ways to Improve Mental Health

Self Care:

• Identify someone supportively and talk about your feelings with them
• Keep active by doing a physical activity that you enjoy.
• Maintain a good diet
• Try and make sure you maintain your friendships and family relationships even when working
• Try to get along with your work colleagues
• Give yourself some ‘me time.
• Get indulged in a hobby that can improve your mood

Supporting a peer:

• Check-in with colleagues informally in the office to see how they are doing time and again
• Manage time to talk to someone in need and make sure they are comfortable opening up
• Practice the Active Listening technique during your conversation
• Manage your own feelings and do not react with extreme emotions - rather let them know that you understand them

Help colleague call their doctor or someone they trust