How will Covid-19 affect mental health

With many people now working from home or furloughed, coupled with the uncertainty associated with Covid 19, we will see more people suffering from both anxiety and depression to name but a few. As employers, we need to understand how to help our staff members who might be suffering with their mental health.

Mental Health First Aid doesn’t teach us to become a counsellor or psychologist, just like regular first aid training doesn’t teach you to become a doctor or paramedic. What it does teach is for us to be a first point of contact for someone experiencing a mental health condition, and give us the ability to signpost that person to the best place that they can receive help. Mental Health First Aid training also helps us become more vigilant in the workplace, and identify people who could be experiencing difficulty, and open a supportive conversation.

Talking to the companies I work with, they comment that one of the hurdles they need to overcome is that of stigma. This is something that is slowly becoming less prevalent in the UK, but still needs to be addressed in modern society.

They’re two types of stigma associated with mental health.  

1. Social Stigma: Includes the negative attitudes and discriminatory behaviours that society or particular individuals hold towards those with mental health problems.

2. Self Stigma: This is where people with mental health problems believe what is being said about their condition, and agree with their viewpoints. It’s also a worry or concern about what other people will think of them if they talk about their mental health condition.

By bringing more awareness of mental health conditions in the workplace, we can steadily change the stigma that surrounds it. I know this first hand, as I’ve seen it work to great effect in the companies I work with.

All companies need to start thinking about how they will look after the mental wellbeing of their staff as we start to come out of lockdown. There’s lots of information out there, but make sure it’s from a reputable source. There’s also some information in the Health & Wellbeing section of our website on signposting , and also the role of the Mental Health First Aider.

By being proactive, companies will be seen as supportive and understanding to their staff, and also help reduce the financial and operational burden of staff absence due to mental health problems.

When it is safe to do so, we will start running our Mental Health First Aid courses again.  If you would like further information on what we offer please get in touch.