Mental Health 'First Aiders', Perception of Control and Wellbeing…

In the past couple of weeks I’ve heard two very different companies use the phrase ‘mental health first aider’. I think growing awareness around mental health and wellbeing is to be applauded. But I have something of a cynical side, possibly because I’ve seen too many organisations go through the motions with initiatives when the underlying motivation appears to be ‘to be seen to being doing the right thing’ or ‘ticking a box’. Actually doing the right thing is far more committing.
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At the same time it’s important to recognise employers are limited to what they can do since personal well being is often to do with more than just an individuals experience at work. I’ve written previously about the ambiguity of ‘mental health’ in so far that commonly used terms like stress, depression or resilience are rarely – in my experience – arbitrary terms. The factors that constitute a persons mental well being are complex and accumulated over a life time. That’s not to say it is fixed…it certainly isn’t and a willingness to be healthier and to take the necessary physical, psychological and dare I say, spiritual steps to accomplish this can be taken by any person at any time. None the less work is a strong contributing factor to well being.

The other week, I delivered a management training course and one of the participants talked about ‘time’ or rather lamented the lack of time in her day and week to spend doing things out with work. Work life balance is a commonly used term but it’s important to recognise it is more than just breaks and holidays. It’s also the feeling of control, of give and take between work and personal life. I was chatting to the CEO of a busy social enterprise (a mother with two school aged children) who happily told me that she didn’t mind working in the evening. She explained this sometimes got a reaction from people who strongly believed working in the evening had to be a bad thing! But for her it was the feeling of being in control, of ‘give and take’. She could take time during the day for personal life if need be and told me how she often did this. The feeling of having some control over our work can really help stress levels and therefore positive mental health. This feeling and perception of control has to extend to other areas of work, from management style through to work objectives and the way work is completed. A lack of control is more likely to lead to a feeling of helplessness and consequently excessive amounts of stress.  

This is where organisational commitment comes in. Whilst a mental health first aider is a positive move, organisations also have to recognise that the relationship between employee and work is one of the key contributors to poor mental health.