Reclaiming Good Mental Health

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Precisely what is good mental health? We are all more or less mentally healthy, and this usually varies through our lives especially as we deal with difficult life events, change and so on. Whether we call this psychological wellbeing, happiness, contentment, positive mindset, all these terms relate to good mental health.

With our physical health, it's part of our everyday discourse to be aspirational. We want to feel physically fit, energetic, strong, balanced in our weight, taking in a healthy diet, supple, resilient and not prone to minor ailments. Sure we complain about our problems, and talk about how we can't do all the things we know we ought to do. We know it's not easy to stay physically healthy without working at it, especially if we've experienced health problems. We know that even if we reach the peak of physical fitness, we can't maintain this for the rest of our lives without watching it.

Research tells us that good mental health is even more beneficial than good physical health. A positive mental outlook increases the rate and speed of recovery from serious, even life threatening, illness. Psychological resilience and wellbeing gives people the strength to turn problems into challenges into triumphs.

Yet whenever I ask a group of people to tell me what words come into head in relation to 'mental health', their responses are about mental ill-health! It's as if the term has been hi-jacked to become totally problem-focused.

In the meantime, we're experiencing an epidemic of mental ill-health. About 1 in 4 people are experiencing some form of common mental health problem such as depression, anxiety and various stress related symptoms. GP surgeries are overwhelmed with such problems, mental health services are only able to furnish support for the 1% of the population with much more severe mental health difficulties, and there's a plethora of largely unregulated services, treatments and remedies out on the private market. A recent research study showed that the majority of long term sickness absence from work resulted from stress related conditions.

The trouble with focusing on the problems and the pain, is that that's what we become experts in. We're looking for cures and additionally treatments to fix the problem, instead of focusing on what makes for good mental health. We know that physical health is multi-dimensional - no-one imagines that pumping iron to build your muscles is a recipe for overall physical health, although it will certainly make you stronger for certain activities.

So what are the essentials of good mental health?

Connection is certainly one of the best known. Having positive close relationships is good for our mental health, as is usually having a wider network of friends, colleagues and acquaintances which will vary over time. Giving to others is another really important aspect of connection, improving our sense of self worth and wellbeing.

Challenge is about learning and development, it's how we grow. For children, everyday brings new challenges, yet as adults we often become increasingly fearful of change, unwilling to learn new skills and put ourselves in unfamiliar situations. So expanding our comfort zone, sometimes in small ways if we're feeling particularly vulnerable, will help develop our self-confidence and sense of personal achievement.

Composure means a sense of balance, and ability to distance ourselves from our thoughts and emotions. It means our ability to respond rather than react. This could be described as our sense of spiritual connection, which may can come through a particular belief or faith, or may be found through connection with nature. A mentally healthy person will feel an inner strength of spirit, and find ways to support that.

Character relates to the way in which we interpret our experiences and our responses to them. We all have our own personal story, or stories, which we may or may not tell others. We may cast ourselves as the hero, that victim or the villain, and however we do this will impact generally on our mental health. Someone who has experienced severe life trauma may have great difficulty piecing together their story at all, leaving them feeling literally fragmented. Good mental health means having a strong sense of personal values, awareness of our own strengths, skills and resources, and personal stories of learning from slipups, survival, success and appreciation.

Creativity represents the fun, childlike aspects of our mental health. As children we are naturally creative and we play. As we grow into adulthood, our creativity and playfulness is often discouraged or devalued, and this can cause great frustration, literally diminishing the capacity of our brain to function as well as it could. Exploring creative activities has often been found to have a powerful therapeutic effect, in addition to good mental health certainly depends in part on opportunities to bring fun, playfulness and creativity into our lives. Discover more knee pain

These 5 C's of good mental health offer a framework within which we can think about our mental health in the same way as we might our physical health. It's pretty damned hard to be a perfect specimen of physical health, but then who needs to be perfect? Just like our physical wellness, our mental health is a work in progress and always will be.

In years gone by, many people with physical illnesses were treated cruelly because of ignorance and shame. I recall when cancer was spoken in hushed whispers as the Big C. Nowadays mental ill-health is the 'elephant in the room' which we need to be looking at long and hard, exposing to practical common sense and smart discussion.

World Mental Health Day on October 10 has been a timely reminder that good mental health really is something we can aspire to for everyone. Let's make it so!

Boost Health and Productivity With a Wellness a Program

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During the last 20 years, we have seen the emergence of a major trend in North America: employee health and wellness are suffering. In Canada and the United States, there have been alarming increases of hypertension, diabetes and obesity. Between 1994 and 2005, the rates of arterial hypertension among Canadians increased by 77%, diabetes by 45% and obesity by 18%, affecting people of every age. Even more concerning is that hypertension rates among Canadians aged 35 to 49 rose 127% during the same period, and almost doubled among young people over the last 15 years (CBC News). The long-term effects of these issues will be dire; for the first time in decades, life expectancy has decreased in the United States, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published in December 2010.

Health care costs increasing
For employers, a lot of these factors should be worrisome, since research shows that employee health directly impacts work behaviour, attendance, on-the-job performance and, of course, health care costs. According to the 2010 Health Care Cost Survey by Towers Watson, employers are now paying 28% more for healthcare than they did just five years ago, and employees are paying 40% more.

Retaining talent
A serious challenge faced by businesses today is a excessive turnover of qualified, motivated and loyal workers. Many employers are failing to support and sustain their best people and create trusting relationships with their employees. The evidence: according to a report by TLNT, 74% of workers are passive job seekers ready to consider a move. In today's competitive markets, employers must find new ways to attract and retain the best and brightest talent. One way to do this is to offer people an environment that promotes healthy and active lifestyles.

Root of the problem
"Seventy-five percent of health care costs result from unhealthy lifestyles, " writes Barbara Schaefer, senior vice-president, human resources for Union Pacific Corporation, in her article, "Long Train Running". In health matters, factors such as smoking, physical inactivity and poor eating habits are responsible for the vast majority of health risks and their associated costs.

There is good news for businesses, however. These leading causes of illness are largely preventable. A 2007 study of more than 200, 000 employees, conducted by the University of Michigan, determined that 61% of employees have two or less health risks, 28% have a moderate risk (three to four risk factors) and only 11% have an elevated risk (five or more health risk factors). The study determined that reducing health risk variables could save an employer US$354 per employee, per year, for an organization of 1, 973 employees. These are savings that can add up quickly.

High performance companies: health and wellness leaders
Businesses today are left with no choice but to create a healthy workplace culture if they want employees to perform to their best potential. High performance companies such as SAS, Wegmans Food Markets and Google have understood the profound connection between employee wellness, productivity and insurance costs. According to a report by the SHRM Foundation, "more than 75% of high-performing companies regularly measure health and wellness as a viable component of their overall risk management strategy. " A survey conducted by Towers Watson and the National Business Group on Health "found that 83% of companies have already revamped or expect to revamp their health care strategy within the next two years, up from 59% in 2009. This year, more employers (66%) plan to offer incentives for employees to complete a health risk appraisal, up from 61% in 2009. Also, 56% of employers now offer health coaches and 26% now offer on-site health centres. "

And it's working! The Public Health Agency of Canada reported that by implementing a physical activity program, Canada Life in Toronto improved productivity together with reduced turnover and insurance costs while achieving a return on investment (ROI) of $6. 85 per corporate dollar invested. A study conducted by the U. S. Centers for Disease Control found that "comprehensive worksite health programs focused on lifestyle behaviour change have been shown to yield a $3 to $6 ROI for each dollar invested. " According to a report by the Medisys Health Group, out of the Top 100 Employers in Canada, 77 have a structured wellness program in place and those who track the results generally find their expectations are met or exceeded.

If you ask the managers and HR directors of these Top 100 companies about the benefits of workplace wellness programs, they will tell you benefits include decreases in insurance costs, absenteeism, presenteeism and turnover rates; increases in productivity and recruitment; and better creativity and overall motivation of the workforce.

How to build an efficient wellness program
Corporate wellness programs should focus on changing poor health habits in order to maintain affordable benefits coverage. A successful wellness program will help employees improve their physical health, improve communication throughout the organization and improve the workplace culture.

Quebec's Groupe de promotion pour la prévention en santé (GP2S) is an organization that has worked for a number of a long time to establish an ISO standard for workplace wellness. According to GP2S, there are a number of factors that will affect the success of wellness programs. Firstly, commitment must come from top management; the leaders of the company must be convinced of the value of the endeavour and must lead by example. Secondly, the program should be structured and integrated; managers need to define a comprehensive wellness strategy that is integrated to the company strategy, with a budget, timeline and thorough planning of resources. Third, the objectives of the program must be linked to the business objectives and the needs of employees, meaning that the program must be well integrated into the management system.

GP2S also emphasizes the importance of effective communication. As stated in the Harvard Business Review's article, "The Pillars of an Effective Workplace Wellness Program", "Wellness is not just a mission-it's a phone message. How you deliver it can make all the difference. Sensitivity, creativity and media diversity are the cornerstones of a successful communications strategy. " Backing up the launch of a wellness program with a strong marketing and communication strategy prevents employee cynicism and skepticism and builds employee enthusiasm and excitement.

There is one very critical action that must be taken to ensure a wellness program achieves a return on investment; the complete implementation process should be based on a detailed diagnostic that evaluates the global health of the business and the health risk factors of the employees. Conducting a diagnostic to uncover employee needs and the most common health risk behaviours allows companies to invest in real problems, which drastically improves the potential return of the wellness program.

Employers, entrepreneurs and HR managers must understand that when it comes to health and wellness, they must invest today to save later.