De-stigmatizing Mental Health

Lessons for Leaders

This week I'm sharing tips and information about De-stigmatizing Mental Health. I share key points on:

• Why mental health is stigmatized
• How stigma brings shame and what that looks like
• How it will impact on your organisation
• Good news on the wider impact of investing in destigmatizing
• Key things that you can do and examples too

When we prevent people talking openly and transparently we also prevent those who need it from having support.

Stigma brings shame. Listen in for information about how people respond then feel ashamed and what the impact will be on your organisation and how it can impact absenteeism, presenteeism and attrition.

Mixed anxiety and depression has been estimated to cause one fifth of days lost from work in Britain.

May 2021 Office for National Statistics, reveals that depression rates have doubled since the COVID-19 pandemic began

The good news is that it’s not just about investing in wellbeing and culture it's helpful for everyone. Listen in for the explanation of the work I did in schools when my kids needed extra support that was helpful for all children, not just them.

The same is true in an organisation so what you get is happier, more inclusive workplaces where people feel accepted and want to come to work.

Let’s not forget that stress and mental health works on a sliding scale and you never know who might slide up that scale to a point of difficulty and who might get a ton of crap thrown at them for longer periods so that they stay at the top end of that scale and hit crisis mode.

What can we do?

I talk about the education, training and culture that can be impacted.

Language is huge and I share how you can impact this.

People need to feel safe enough to talk and that they will be heard. They don’t even need you to understand them or be able to stand in their shoes.

I share a couple of key phrases that help you to help de-stigmatize mental health and support your people.

As well as language they hear at work there’s also a language going on inside their own head based on their own upbringing and experiences. They might be ashamed, believe they’re weak (this has been said to me often) think no-one will understand or don’t want to show a vulnerability.

My daughter both think they can hide their worries and concerns. Yet it shows in their behaviour.

It takes the entire team to work together to make progress and consistently send the message that there is no stigma or shame around mental health.

Even then, don’t be offended if someone still struggles to talk to you. It’s not you. You can still help.

As the stigma lifts and the culture changes, the sense of shared trauma and experiences are making it easier for people to talk not just about their own struggles, but to recognize those issues in others.

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