What are your first thoughts when a colleague discloses a mental health issue to you? Is it ‘I don’t know how to respond to this’? If you’re a line manager, do you instantly worry that this disclosure will result in increased sickness absence? Maybe you’d worry about the employee’s ability to do their job? Or do you feel confident and comfortable enough to have an open discussion with them before making any preconceived judgements?
If your first thought is ‘how best can I support this person?’ – amazing, the chances are you are part of an empathetic workplace that have succeeded in encouraging open discussions around mental illness; your setting is likely to have positive practices that help create an inclusive work climate - which is the goal.
What can you do to get to that point? Unfortunately, not everyone understands mental health problems. Some people may have misconceptions about what certain diagnoses mean. I personally have struggled with Generalised Anxiety Disorder, Social Anxiety, SAD and PMDD for years. I don’t mind people knowing this now, but it took a long time for me to open up about it to my employers. I’m fortunate that I have a supporting senior leadership team and I hope they’d agree that this diagnosis hasn’t affected my ability to do my job. Them having the knowledge of my mental health issues, along with my Insights Discovery profile - which uses a model of 4 colour energies to help people understand themselves and others - they are fully equipped to understand my preferences and there is no stigma (I’m very ‘cool blue’/’earth green’ for those who are familiar with it!). Unfortunately, stigma and discrimination still exist in some workplaces, and that stigma can negatively affect relationships, work, education and the chance to live a normal life. Something that others often take for granted. Take a moment to think about whether there may be a feeling of prejudice at your setting around mental health disclosures. Recognising and accepting this is key to creating inclusivity.
I appreciate that education settings are already doing a huge amount of work in terms of mental health and well-being – does your setting focus as much on staff well-being as it does its pupils well-being? Ideally, speaking about mental health problems should be an intrinsic part of the culture of your setting. Health is not always seen as a strategic enabler that drives performance. But it should be. If we feel well, we can perform better and of course this has a knock-on effect on the success and school experience of your pupils. If someone asked you the question ‘how do you encourage your staff to have open conversations about mental health?’, what would you say? One option for consideration might be the HFL Wellbeing Quality Mark which has a module on Staff Wellbeing.
Talking about mental health can be difficult but it’s important to note that you don’t need to be an expert to talk about mental health, you are not expected to make a diagnosis or have all the answers. In many ways, it should be approached in the same way you would any other kind of health-related problem – seek specialist input. What you can do is ask questions and be willing to spend time listening to their answer. Imagine if that one question meant your colleague opened up about feeling overwhelmed and, for example, they disclosed to you that during their PPA time there’s a chatterbox who has PPA at the same time and they can’t concentrate so they’re getting further and further behind. Something so easy to resolve but not something they’ve been able to manage or had the confidence to address themselves. I appreciate issues are not always that straight forward but asking simple, open and non-judgmental questions and letting your employee explain in their own words how their mental health problem manifests, the triggers, how it impacts on their work and what support they think they might need, will help. Small changes you can make in your settings can go a long way in supporting someone’s mental health. Mind have some useful resources as a first step
Earlier in the year I presented a ‘Managing staff well-being and mental health disclosures’ webinar to a school who wanted a bespoke session for their line managers at one of their inset days and ironically, for days I spent the lead up incredibly anxious and subdued, and after the session I spent days over-thinking perhaps what I should have said, or not said - but that doesn’t mean I can’t do it – I realised after this that I may just have to prepare differently to someone else and accept that any intrusive thoughts and the fatigue that follows will pass. The relationship between our performance and mental health is complex. Some people ask me how I can work in Human Resources when I have social anxiety, but for me it’s easy, there’s a purpose, a focus to the discussions and advice, it’s easy because it’s my job and it’s familiar; but send me to a school reunion with a room full of people I haven’t seen for over 20 years (how much over 20 I won’t disclose!) and I’ll be out of there quicker than you can say “small talk”!
It is often wrongly assumed that all mental health problems lead to underperformance. It might be that it just helps for your colleagues to know, and it may explain some behaviours. It can feel scary but have, or encourage, that conversation.
Another great tip is to be aware of what is happening in people’s personal lives as stress outside of work, for example due to illness, bereavement or financial worries might be contributing to them struggling to cope in the workplace. Again, have conversations, communication is key. It might be that you need to seek advice and support yourself. You’re not expected to have all the answers. It might be that you need to make an Occupational Health referral or if relationships have become strained or confrontational, mediation might help. Does your setting have an Employee Assistance Program you can direct employees to? If not, perhaps your setting could consider adopting one.
I really like this Equality vs Equity illustration with the bikes, I thought it was a bit different to the one we’re all familiar with illustrating the stools. The supportive measures, the tools we use, look different for different people, there is no one size fits all when it comes to supporting a mental health issue. Traditionally employers have been aiming for equality to reach a more level playing field - what this doesn’t do though is take into account an employees’ physical, mental and emotional needs, which means in reality it continues to deliver an unbalanced end result. The concept of equity is to understand the individual needs of each person – and to offer a different level of support, so that each employee can reach the same outcomes as others. By striving for equity where possible, employers can create inclusive and diverse workplaces where everyone is given equal opportunity to succeed. I urge you to have a think about what this might look like in your setting, with your staffs’ different needs.
If you notice someone who appears to be struggling, make the first move in encouraging the disclosure of a problem, it could be related to mental ill health.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, you have to reach out to somebody. You can’t do it alone. Whether it’s a friend, a colleague, a mental health first aider, a professional – reach out.
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Employee wellbeing is a key issue that organisations are striving to address to ensure that their employees remain happy and motivated at work, this section provides guidance and useful services that support the process. Our model wellbeing policy, managing stress tools, and wellbeing guidance and resources:
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Siba Carrick
