Written by: Ashton Barron - Year 10 Work Experience Student
Are you okay? Today is RUOK day and it is vital to check in with yourself and your coworkers.
RUOK is a suicide prevention charity that has a strong focus on mental health, preaches that one conversation could save a life. This charity encourages people to go out and ask, as the name implies, are you okay, to friends, coworkers, family and even strangers. Their reasoning is that if you can get people to talk about their mental health, they may take steps to improve their mental health.
Mental health is incredibly important and crucial to everyday life. Poor mental health can lead to a decrease in concentration and mood and lead one to withdraw themselves, become sick, sad, angry or even suicidal. None of which are good qualities to have in a work environment, as mental health can affect productivity, communication and likability. This can affect your own career, as well as make your coworkers’ lives much more difficult.
But what can you do to improve and prevent poor mental health?
- Eating well
- Staying fit and active,
- Practicing mindfulness, meditation and breathing exercises
- Getting enough sleep
- Talking to a friends, family, coworkers or a therapist about your mental health.
How to assist someone.
If someone you know has poor mental health or has a mental health issue, you should:
- Let them know that you care and support them
- Treat them with respect and dignity
- Talk with them about their mental health and emotions
- Kindly encourage or assist them in getting support and help. This could include therapy or medication.
How to encourage talking.
Some people have poor mental health or a mental health illness but are too scared to admit it. There are several things you can do in order to get them to open up and talk about it, such as:
- Show your love and concern for them
- Talk openly and honestly to them
- Share some personal challenges that you face, in order to get them comfortable to talk about their problems
- Acknowledge the difficulty of opening up and you could tell them that it’s ok to have a mental health issue and that there are resources available to help them.
If you’re facing mental health problems, please reach out to others or use these resources: