4 minute read
Mental Well Being
Anxiety. This is the top mental health concern for Canadians in 2020 and 2021. Have you ever heard someone say their nerves are shot? Anxiety is a state of extreme nervousness. A person can be seen as jumpy or highly excitable. Many people are expressing some of these symptoms during the pandemic and they are often heightened by everything that is going on around them. An extreme expression of anxiety would be a panic attack, where your heart starts racing and pounding in your chest and you Burnout feel short of breath. It often feels like you are having a heart attack. Anti-anxiety medications can help a lot to lessen the anxiety. Perhaps you have been burned out at one time or another in your life. Certainly, we all know someone who has. They feel exhausted, mentally drained and have no energy left to give to anyone. Today a lot of this fatigue can come in the form of too many online meetings.I have heard many say that they are “Zoomed Out”, because our minds often are highly activated when we have to do an online presentation. Even being in online meetings, showing our smiling faces many hours a day, can take a lot out of us. Too many of my friends and others have not learned how to take breaks. Instead, they jam in hour after hour of continuous video conferencing every day, some times for 6-8 hours or more. That is not healthy and will result in burnout.
Depression Depression is now ranked as the #1 cause of disability in Canada. Those who are depressed have feelings of heavy sadness and deep darkness. They lose interest in being with people and they don’t want to take part in events or activities. Their energy levels are extremely low. It is a very serious concern and many women and men in Canada have progressed to having Major Depressive Disorder. Another name for this is Clinical Depression. Any form of depression is serious and medical treatment should be sought out.
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Stress Stress is the result of a change that causes physical, mental or emotional strain. With the pandemic, stress is increasing all over the world. Some of us are more able to cope and deal with stress in our lives, while some cannot do so and need to seek the counsel of friends and family. And if the stress just becomes too much, professional counselling is required.Sometimes the stress progresses to the point of feeling totally overwhelmed. Intense emotions overcome the person, like ocean waves washing over the shore. We can feel exhausted, defeated and unable to cope. We feel overpowered by the strength of the forces around us. Stress can make us feel irritable and on edge most of the time. We just want to lash out or yell at someone. Relationships at work and at home can be negatively affected.
Where is the Help?
A lot of men and women need help, but often not much comes their way. A recent study by Lululemon indicated that only 15% of employees felt that their employer was doing enough to provide the right resources for them to cope. Employers do share a portion of the responsibility for making sure the mental health of their employees is looked after. Many other people do not even reach out for assistance. According to a recent Sun Life survey, 54% of Canadians experiencing mental health issues have not gone for medical support. 31% of those said they felt they did not need any assistance and 25% said they could not afford it. 23% were embarrassed or afraid to ask. What can be done? How can we make sure that people get help when they are going through tough times? Employers need to inform their employees about the counselling and psychological services available through their group benefits programs. If there is an Employee Assistance Program, let them know how to access it. Many companies have added virtual health care to their offering to help workers cope. Some employers do have quiet rooms at work for reflection and meditation. If you are working from home, find that quiet place inside or outside your premises that can be your quiet place.
Check in regularly with your family, friends and work associates. Use the phone to call them or FaceTime them. Others respond better to emails or texts. Make it a weekly or bi-weekly occurrence. Do not leave them alone too long when you know someone is suffering. Acknowledge what they are feeling. Let them know it is real and that they are not merely imagining the stress and trouble that is going on around them. And the turmoil within can be simply unbearable.
Gratitude. Suggest that they often give thanks and write down what they are grateful for. Help them focus on what is going well in their lives. Encourage them. Lift them up and be with them. Do not put them down or discount what they are going through. Share your own stories. Speak with them about the difficulties you have had with mental health you have gone through. If you know someone is experiencing emotional pain and agony, do not run away from them and think you have no idea what to do. Just run towards them and help them along their healing journey. Provide them with hope.
