Are You OK?

HEALTH AND WELLBEING —

668

By Craig Bulloch

668 by itself that is an innocuous number, but when I tell you that is how many people took their own lives in the past year in New Zealand it has a lot more meaning. That is 668 people that thought that they couldn’t carry on. That is 668 people that thought they couldn’t ask for help. This is also a number that has been increasing over the past four years and we are now at an all-time high of suicides within New Zealand. Pretty sobering isn’t it?

I have been there. I know exactly what it is like to be on that precipice thinking that I couldn’t carry on and wanting to end the pain. Thankfully I didn’t. I‘m now here to share my story and have a goal to make conversations around mental health, especially for males, as easy as having a chat about the weather. Yes, it is a big goal and it will take time to break the stigma still attached to mental health in New Zealand, but something must be done. However, I am also a realist and know that not everyone will want to be helped. There are also those out there that want to be helped but don’t know where to turn and these are the people that we need to connect with.

As a society we must get rid of the whole “toughen up”, “she’ll be right” mentality because it is an archaic way of thinking and it helps nobody.

We can all make a difference and the way to start is by looking out for those we have interactions with. If you notice something isn’t right with someone trust your instincts and have a conversation. A simple Are you OK? chat can save a life, I should know, it saved mine.

I also know that we may shy away from having one of these conversations just in case the person says they aren’t ok. If someone does say that they aren’t ok the thing to remember is that we don’t need to be a councillor. We just need to listen to them and not jump to offer solutions. Don’t feel sorry for the person and most of all don’t tell them that they have no reason to feel the way they do. The best thing you can do is show some empathy and encourage action for their wellness. This could be as little as going for a walk with them. By doing these couple of things and by letting them know you will be there for them will go a long way to help them on their journey. You also may never know when the shoe may be on the other foot and you need them.

We must also look inward and say that I am not ok when we aren’t. This for me is what we struggle with the most. We find it easy to fix other people but when it comes to ourselves we don’t want to be seen as being weak by asking for help. We need to normalise the fact that sometimes things will be tough, and we may be struggling. This is when we must be brave and ask for help. I put it to you this way. If you have a broken bone what do you do? You would go to the doctor. So why don’t we go to the doctors when we have a broken mind? It should be that simple.

I will be having a Chew the Fat chat with Jason where I will talk about the journey I have been on and the different tools that I now utilise to keep well.

And just remember #itaintweaktospeak!

HEALTH AND WELLBEING —

Builders: Tough as Nails?

Did you know that the construction industry has the highest suicide rate in New Zealand? It’s hard to believe but it’s true according to new research from BRANZ.

Then if you consider some other scary facts from recent New Zealand-wide research, we know that:

• Men are 3 times more likely to commit suicide

• 6 kiwi adults are diagnosed with anxiety or depression

• 1 in 5 young kiwis are diagnosed with depression before they turn 18.

And, the World Health Organisation predicts that depression will be the biggest cause of death by 2028.

Put all this together and we have to conclude that the old kiwi attitude of ‘taking a concrete pill and hardening up’ is killing us – quite literally. Because we typically don’t talk about it, we don’t own up to depression or anxiety or stress. We have to be seen to be tough, even though every builder knows how stressful the industry can be. But life can throw curved balls and we all need support sometime because these curved balls can be enough to tip us when we are hard out running businesses and pretty stressed at the best of times.

That’s why the Association is encouraging Members to use counselling and other wellness services when needed. The sooner we deal with stuff that’s affecting us, the sooner we can get back to being at the top of our game and being more focused on our work and being more productive.

The sooner we recognise that lack of wellbeing has a significant impact on performance and productivity,

and address this, then all the better for business, for the industry, and all the better for individual wellbeing too.

The other side of the coin is the workplace culture. If you don’t create the right environment for your staff to really perform, then that too flows into stressed, unhappy and dis-engaged staff. Its not hard to address this either if you really want to make a difference to your bottom line.

So it’s not enough to say that the wellbeing of your workers ‘is not your problem’.

If you want to get the best out of the resources you have, to make your business as efficient and productive as possible, then look after their wellbeing. Get the right professional help to focus on the people and the culture in your workplace. It pays dividends.

Pauline Wrigley, Managing Director, EWP Services, delivering wellness programmes for healthy, thriving workplaces.

Need to discuss more?

For a free consultation, please contact Pauline at EWP Services on 0800 800 397 or paulinew@ewpservices.co.nz.

As an Affinity Partner of NZCB, EWP is providing nationwide confidential counselling support service to members. When you sign up for this service, you will get a preferred customer rate for your annual fee and NZCB will pay for the first counselling session used by one of your staff.