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Mental health is a state of well-being in which an individual
can cope with everyday stress,
work productively,
reach his or her full potential, and
contribute to the community.
Mental health, along with physical health and social well-being, is an essential component of overall health.
It is more than the absence of mental illness. Anyone can have poor mental health without having an illness. Even Anyone can have good mental health with a mental illness.
Five key points about mental health.
Mental health is more than the absence of mental illness
No one can have physical health without mental health.
Mental health helps in coping with stress.
Human performance and mental health are closely related.
Workplace wellness must be a top priority.
Importance of mental health
Mental health and work performance are
directly related to each other. A person with good mental health performs
better. If a person has bad mental health, he cannot perform well. That’s why in
today's world, employee mental health is a top priority for businesses. Positive
mental health is important because it helps individuals
a)To cope with challenges (Good or bad) at
work and at home.
b)To
help employees perform well in their roles, manage stress, and boosts
resilience.
c)To
allow each individual to reach his highest potential.
d)To
Cope with difficulties in life.
e)To
have basic cognitive and social skills.
f)To
recognize, express and regulate emotions.
g)To
empathize with others.
h)To
cope with changing roles, and responsibilities.
i)To flourish in life.
Factors
affecting mental health negatively-
Employee mental health can be
negatively affected in the workplace due to:
1.Inadequate health and
safety policies
If an organization has poor mental and
health policies then, definitely, the mental health of the employees will not
be good. An organization must take feedback from employees on a day-to-day basis
about the workplace (overcrowded or not/ ventilated or not/ adequately lit or not,
etc.), materials or equipment (poor or good/ well maintained or not) they use.
2.Poor communication and
management practices
Poor communication and practices create
trouble in the relationship, create poor mental health, and increase workplace
stress. Management should adopt open communication policies so that honest
feedback can be received from employees. It also helps to think of better
solutions to the existing problems.
3.Low levels of support for
employees
Managers who don't help solve
problems or share resources with employees can contribute to unmotivated, and
overwhelmed employees. A team leader should demonstrate how to complete a
challenging task and stay available for questions rather than expecting
employees to figure out the problem or doubt themselves.
4.Performance pressure
The constant higher expectations from
employees put unreasonable pressure on them. It leads to an increase in
workload and work hours, added stress, and emotional exhaustion.
5.Job insecurity
Any threat to the job is the biggest
negative factor to mental health. The fear of not being able to pay bills or
care for families carries a significant threat to an individual's mental
well-being.
Symptoms
of poor mental health at Work
The symptoms of mental health problems
can vary from person to person and according to the situation but it's
important to be aware of any changes in thinking, feeling, and behaving. An
individual may have difficulty focusing, feel stressed, irritable,
unappreciated, or lack the energy and motivation to complete even the most
basic task. Such activities show poor mental health. A few of the many symptoms
are mentioned below-
a)Unfocused aim
A person with poor mental health is
unable to focus on his work or life. He wanders from one thought to another and
cannot complete his task.
b)Decline in performance at work and in
life
A person with poor mental health
struggles to perform his basic task or daily duties at work, at home, or in social
life.
c)Trouble concentrating and thinking
A person with poor mental health has
problems concentrating on his task. He experiences difficulties with his
memory, thinking, or imagining.
d)Changes in appetite or sleeping
patterns
Struggling with insomnia, sleeping too
much, and sudden changes in eating, and drinking shows that a person has poor mental
health.
e)Changes in your mood
A person with poor mental health has
strong mood swings. He feels hopeless, helpless, on edge, or experiences or even
suicidal thoughts.
f)Loss of interest in activities
A person with poor mental health shows
sudden changes in his interest and favorite things. He loses interest in his
hobbies or withdraws from friendships and social activities.
g)Nervousness
A person with poor mental health becomes
nervous and becomes fearful in certain situations for no reason.
h)Increased sensitivity.
A person with poor mental health becomes
more sensitive to sights and sounds and tries to avoid loudness and brightness.
i)Unusual behavior
A person with poor mental health shows
unusual behavior. He avoids gatherings. He becomes disconnected from his
surroundings.
j)Physically Discomfortability
A person with poor mental health feels
physical discomfort like unexplained aches and pains. He complains of headaches,
upset stomach, or muscle pain.
Negative
effects of poor mental health
Many mental health problems can creep
up slowly. People can get so used to feeling dull, anxious, and physically
down at work that it starts to feel "normal". But ignoring the early
signs of mental health problems won't make it correct; it will just become worse
over time and leave a person vulnerable to illnesses and other health problems.
Finally, it will damage job performance, relationships, and home life. Some
of the negative effects of mental health are mentioned below-
1.Demotivation
and lack of focus
Poor mental health leads to
demotivation and lack of focus. All these bring a lack of engagement with one's because
due to poor mental health a person cannot regulate his thoughts and emotions.
2.Low Productivity
and job performance
Healthy minds perform better. Poor
mental health can reduce job performance because of a negative impact on behavioral
skills, creativity, and resilience. Without these skills, an individual cannot perform
well at his job.
3.Reduced
physical capability and daily functioning
Poor mental health increases social
anxiety, reduces cognitive performance, and damages working memory. All such
things negatively impact the daily living and physical capability of a person.
4.Misaligned
communication
Due to poor mental health, a person
becomes emotionally weak and it affects his communication skills also. Poor
mental health may lead to misinterpreting or overreacting to someone. A
person with poor mental health may use a passive-aggressive tone, may become a
poor listener, or may have a negative attitude.
5.Poor
decision-making
Poor mental health can lead to a lack
of impulse control, unhealthy thoughts, and poor decision-making. Which in
turn results in a negative environment in the organization.
Q. 1. Define Stress and its management
Techniques.
Write an essay on four A’s techniques of
stress management.
Ans-
Stress
Stress is the emotional, physical, or
psychological tension because of worry, frustration, anger, or nervousness. It is an unwanted or
uninvited situation. It happens whenever there is an odd situation with an
unexpected result. Happy events, such as a wedding, and unhappy events,
such as work overload, can cause stress.
Types of stress:
There are two main types of stress:
a)Acute stress:
The little stress that someone experiences daily is
called acute stress. These are short-term stressors. Short-term
stress can help avoid danger, The body releases a hormone, called cortisol, in
response to stress. It alerts the brain, tenses the muscles, and increases the
pulse rate. In the short term, this helps individuals avoid danger; and sometimes
perform better. Acute stress can be manageable and sometimes may bring good
results. For example, during examinations, students have the stress of their
revision. This stress helps them to learn and pass the examination.
b)Chronic stress:
More severe stress that can be built up when someone is exposed to
a stressful situation over a longer period is called chronic stress.
Long-term stress can harm the mind and body. Cortisol can increase the risks of
high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, depression, anxiety, diabetes, and
menstrual problems. It can also worsen existing health conditions.
Stress
management (Application of 4As)
(Strategies for coping with stress)
Stress is an unwanted or uninvited situation. It happens whenever
there is an odd situation with an unexpected result. Happy events, such as a
wedding, and unhappy events, such as work overload, can cause stress. When
stress is going heavier one must find ways to reduce the stress because too
much stress can make life difficult. Stress
management is an effective tool to Reduce stress. It has four A's (avoid, alter, accept,
or adapt) for coping with stress. The four A's
of stress management are to avoid, alter, accept, and adapt.
1. Avoid
This is the most straightforward strategy for stress management. Avoiding many
things is always in control. One can learn how to avoid situations,
environment, people, etc. One must be very careful while avoiding things. A lot
of stress can be avoided by planning ahead & rearranging surroundings.
Some examples are given below-
a)Avoid aggression-
Be calm and cool. Listen and wait for your time
b)Avoid Loosing control ( means Taking Control)-
Stress can be avoided by taking control
of certain things in life. For
example- Avoid the route if traffic gives you stress.
c)Avoid bothersome people-
Learn proximity rules and avoid irritated people. For example - sitting with people who irritate you.
d)Avoid procrastinating things-
Never delay in doing work. It will heap up lots of work and increase
stress.
e)Avoid saying ‘yes’-
If the time is less and responsibilities are more, it is better to
avoid saying ‘yes’ to less important things. For example-entertainment
during the examination.
f)Avoid time killing-
Avoid doing unproductive work and killing your precious time.
g)Avoid haphazard listing (means Prioritize a to-do list)-
Preparing a to-do list with the priority of the work to be done. For
example- Give priority to completing projects over watching movies.
2.Alter (Change)
Alter means ‘change’. This is another technique for reducing
stress. It is not easy to change oneself or another. But this technique
sometimes works well. Alter unfavorable and unmanageable circumstances with
wit, patience, negotiation, persuasion, and tactics.
a)Alter emotional attitude
Change emotional attitude into emotional intelligence to reduce
stress.
b)Ask others to Alter their behavior
If someone's behavior hurts you talk to him/her directly in person
and request him/her not to repeat the same again. For example- If someone
insults you then and now, ask him to change this attitude.
c)Alter yourself
Alter your habits and attitude, if required for a stress-free life.
d)Alter Communication Style (Communicate openly)
Someone is best when he/she is honest. Always try to be honest in
conversation. It helps to reduce maximum stress. For example - openly change the course of action if given instructions are difficult to follow.
e)Alter the ‘I’ approach
Alter the ‘I’ approach to the ‘you’ attitude. It helps to build rapport with
others.
f)Alter Time management techniques-
Try to change your working style and save time by grouping similar
works together rather than doing those works one by one. For example- Alter your
way of working and do two tasks simultaneously. Like replying to emails
and messages while traveling.
g)Alter shy nature (State limits in advance)-
If you have limits, please inform others so that they may change according
to your limit. For example- A request for a change in time schedule due to an
urgent unplanned meeting.
3.Accept
Sometimes you may have no choice but to accept things as they are.
Accepting things can also reduce stress.
a)Accept the past-
Past incidents that cannot be altered. Accept the things which had
happened and to reduce your stress talk to someone whom you think is your
friend.
b)Accept people and forgive them
Accept the people as they are by
forgiving their mistakes. Forgive others releases negative energy from the mind and
body. Accept people or things with their faults and start living with
them.
c)Accept the challenges positively
Take challenges positively and face them with courage and strategically.
d)Accept positivity (Practice positive
self-talk)
Negative thoughts attract many more negative thoughts. Positive
self-talk can reduce stress and help maintain objectivity. For example - Accept
positivity in self and talking to self about it.
e)Accept and Learn from mistakes
Mistakes are inevitable and should be used as teachable moments.
Don’t regret but learn from them. Accept your mistakes but don’t repeat them.
4.Adapt (Adjust)
One of the reasons for stress is expectation. The technique of
‘Adapt’ means adjusting to a situation. If expectations/standards are not met, one feels stressed. hence one should adapt to the situation.
a)Adapt to the environment-A person must adapt to the
environment, he is in.
b)Adapt to any hobby- Hobby
can do miracles and it also keeps someone away from negative thoughts.
c)Adapt to 'no expectation' Tag- Nothing is perfect.
Trying for perfection can cause feelings of frustration and guilt. Adjusting
expectations can reduce stress.
d)Adapt to exchange bad to better- Negative thoughts should immediately be replaced with
positive ones. If you think positively, things turn out to be positive.
e)Adapt to Reframe the issue - If something looks
odd then start looking at situations from a different viewpoint. Take advantage
of a bad situation and turn it into a nice way with planning.
f)Adapt to mantra sayings- Mentally repeating
confident sentences, such as, “I can do this,” has a positive effect on
stressful situations.
g)Adapt to happy
resources- Rather than feeling stressed with a list of to-do, make
another list of happy experiences, situations, and thoughts that can put things
into perspective.
h)Look at the big picture- if things are quite
close then complete those but if things are quite far take them at rest for
some time and take rest for a while.
