How to address mental health as a result of a stressful work culture that needs to change

I have always found myself between two worlds;

The world in which I am an extrovert skilled in public speaking and languages;

And the world in which I used to find myself trying to cope with everything that I am feeling and thinking while trying to hide it as best as I can.

Hiding mental health is difficult, and it can be even more when we choose a career path addressing the very issues we want to overcome. I would say this comes to no surprise that I made the conscious choice of studying communications and public relations. I am looking for exposure and winning over this side of me. And I realise now, that I am constantly looking to fight battles and win wars of change. I want to contribute to making a change happen in the corporate world, for people suffering mental health to open up about it first, and get the necessary support they can aspire to have. The topic of public relations and mental health is therefore a core point of interest to me.

The way we talk about mental health, the way we promote the idea of opening up about it, is going to make a difference in the next five to ten years. I strongly believe now is finally the right time to talk about it. However, the practice of public relations is currently named as the sixth most stressful job in the world. It is a chicken or the egg causality dilemma: is public relations causing burnouts or are people affected with mental health attracted to hiding it with the very definition of exposure, by being spokespersons?

One of the problems that are raised by practitioners Is the absence of distinction between private and work life. The balance is weighing in favour of work, and boundaries keep getting blurry. So what could employees do when they struggle with a form of mental health? The first step to being acknowledged and to get help, is being able to ask for it. Speaking up for someone who is in total distress, may not be the right direct move, as the reaction in a workplace can be to move the sufferer to the backstage. Instead, knowing what you are suffering from, knowing how to deal with it, and being able to explain what exact measures you need to be able to keep working, works better. On the employer side, the things to implement are understanding and empathy, considering mental health days as actual and necessary sick days, and perhaps keep a record for the diagnosis. On a greater level, conferences and workshops about mental health can be very beneficial to the sufferers, their employers and co-workers, and even to their families. Quite often when I came out of the “mental health” closet, and explained what it is all about, the person I am talking with realise they may have or know someone that may have a mental health problem. Because it is much more present than we would like to admit it.

Now, the thing sufferers should avoid at all cost is hiding it. Mental health diseases strive on silence and self-denial. If a person is scared for their job position to the point where they don’t talk about it and hide it to their co-workers, employer and self, the likely result is that the disease gets the better of them and cause even more damage at work. Instead, they should be their own spokespersons and make mental health a public matter. As for me, I am going to try and work in PR, hoping that the knowledge in psychology I have, and the behaviour therapy I attended, will prevent me from giving up. But if I do feel like I have to give up, I will be strong enough to leave PR. In any case, I will speak out and try my best to help change regarding mental health happen in the workplace.

References
Smith, R. (2015, May 14). Mental health in PR – busting the myths. Retrieved April 12, 2017, from CIPR Influence: http://influence.cipr.co.uk/2015/05/14/mental-health-pr-busting-myths-2/

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