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Mental health is one of the biggest causes for loss of productivity for workplaces in 2024. For many people, the pandemic caused many people to develop mental health issues, or for already existing issues to worsen. However, you don’t need to be a therapist or have a PHD in psychology to improve mental health awareness throughout your business. By just implementing a few simple things, you will be able to help improve the mental health of your staff. Here are 4 key ways that you can promote mental health awareness at work!

Encourage Healthy Living

One of the best things you can do for your workplace is to promote healthy living. Mental health is just like any other health problem – it can be significantly affected by your lifestyle. Obviously, eating right and doing exercise won’t cure depression – but it can help maintain a good mindset and help you relax. Having healthy food options as well as promoting movement such as walking on breaks, or a cycle to work scheme, could significantly help when it comes to promoting mental health awareness in the workplace. 

Promote Collaboration 

When a work team has a good relationship with each other, and trusts each other a lot, the overall mental health of everyone in the workplace will drastically improve. This is because when everyone feels better at work and can trust their team to help them and be supportive whilst working towards a common goal, each member of the team can be more satisfied with work. This can significantly reduce stress and help people improve their work life balance, which are essential when it comes to improving mental health. Investing in team building exercises, promoting collaboration and encouraging team days out can all help improve satisfaction. 

Educate on Mental Health Awareness 

One of the best things you can do to improve everyone’s awareness of how mental health can affect us is by putting on seminars and workshops. A lot of people simply don’t know what to do if they think they are suffering from poor mental health, or what to do if they see others struggling. There are many coping mechanisms or avenues for help that people can choose if they or someone else is suffering – ensuring that your team knows where to turn is essential if you want to improve mental health. Investing in mental health seminars for your staff can drastically improve mental health awareness in the workplace. 

Allow Breaks 

A key reason why many people struggle with mental health awareness in the workplace is due to burnout. When your employees have a lot of work to do and don’t get the opportunities for breaks, they can experience burnout, which can have devastating effects on their mental health. Ensuring that your employees are using annual leave as well as having regular breaks in the work day is one of the best things you can do to help people manage a work life balance, and improve overall mental health in your workplace.