Time to Talk day 2020
6th February 2020
Today is: “TIME TO TALK” day, Thursday 6th February, 2020.
“Choose to talk about mental health and help change lives”
Mental health issues affect 1 in 4 of us; yet, there is still an enormous stigma that can leave individuals feeling incredibly isolated and sometimes even embarrassed when talking about their problems. “Time to Talk” day is a designated awareness day ran by the charity “Time to Change” to encourage EVERYONE (not just those who suffer with mental health issues) to talk more freely and openly about mental health, whether this is their own, their friends’ or their families’ and how we can feasibly put in place preventative measures to protect this.
The theory behind this awareness day is that the more we converse and communicate our thoughts, feelings and experiences of mental health, the more we can work together to “normalise” and accept these feelings to reduce the stigma. It also provides an opportunity for organisations to share with others how they address the mental health stigma within the workplace as a means of incorporating this into the typical working day.
It is apparent that there is almost a sense of fear that talking about preventative measures to look after your mental health implies that the individual who is suffering is at fault – which is of course not the case, but you can see why this is a logical thought process.
With this in mind, it is crucial that we consider mental health issues as being just as important as physical health issues. Just as you would go to the GP for something such as pain; you should also be going to the GP for something such as struggling with emotions or feeling down. Similarly, there is no placing of the blame when you suffer from physical symptoms, just as there should be no blame for emotional symptoms.
Amy Morin, a clinical Social Worker and Psychotherapist, has some tips about how to start a conversation about mental health:
- Talk about the available resources
- Discuss strategies for building mental strength
- Incorporate conversations about mental health into the work day
- Think about mental health as a continuum (e.g. consider the ups and downs)
- Talk about the way mental health is portrayed in movies or media
- Share your own personal stories
- Offer help to others
There are also some simple yet effective communication techniques that you can employ to encourage healthy conversations around the workplace:
- Checking in – by simply asking a friend or a colleague how they are doing or if they are ok can immediately lift negative feelings of isolation and worthlessness as it is showing you are caring and taking an interest.
- Listening and not judging – the worst thing that you can do is undermine someone else’s by feelings, for example you may say; ‘oh, you shouldn’t feel sad, you’re doing well at work’ – this can in fact encourage feelings of guilt and emphasised worthlessness as it suggests that you are not really listening or understanding their problems.
- Treat them in the same way – just because an individual has shared feelings with you, doesn’t mean you should change the way you act (besides checking in more regularly!), you should not be excluding them from activities.
- Ask twice – as the stigma for mental health can be so large for some people; it may be that an individual wants to share their troubles with you, but does not know how to do this or feeling like it shouldn’t be discussed. Therefore, it is important to ask them twice as a means of promoting a safe environment for them to share.
By incorporating these mental health conversations and normalising this within the workplace; it is the perfect and ideal way of confronting face on the ‘myths’ that still exist about mental health. Society as a whole has made a vast improvement on reducing these myths; but we still have a long way to go. Those who have not ever suffered from anxiety or depressive symptoms may still assume that mental health problems are rare – but this sadly, is not the case. Other myths include believing that individuals who suffer from mental health issues cannot hold down a professional job, therefore, reducing any need to discuss preventative methods in the workplace.
The theme for todays’ “Time to Talk” awareness day focuses upon using ice breakers as a means of starting a healthy conversation about mental health using the popular game “Would you rather?”
For more information on how you can make a start at engaging in health conversations in your work place, click here to download a resource pack for either your community, your organisation, your school or your sports club!
References
https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/get-involved/time-talk-day