cent rise on the same study conducted 10 years prior. Absenteeism
increased to £395 ($682), up 17.9 per cent; presenteeism is now
at £790 ($1,365), a 30.5 per cent increase; and staff turnover rose
to £115 ($200), up some 21 per cent. The overall cost to the U.K.
economy is a staggering £34.9 billion ($60.3 billion), a 34.7 per
cent increase from £25.9 billion ($44.7 billion) in 2006/07. Going
on these figures alone, it can be suggested that over the next ten
years the trend will continue; with similar results in Canada. Can
society really afford to ignore this problem?
NEW APPROACH – PROACTIVE
MENTAL WELLNESS
Due to the nature of office work, the proportions of demand
placed upon employees are approximately 10 per cent physical
and 90 per cent mental. However, employees who do such men-tal
work are rarely offered skills on how to protect their mental
health properly.
There is a new proactive approach to mental health as some-thing
that everyone should actively strive towards. By shifting
the focus from external reactive problem-solving approaches
(the commonplace solutions of today, such as medical leave,
prescription drugs and psychiatric therapy), towards a more pro-active
education on mental wellness, people who are mentally
well learn new skills to prevent escalation of negative states into
potential illness.
INTRA-PERSONAL SKILLS FORMULATE THE
CORNERSTONE OF SELF-LEADERSHIP
Early proactive intervention in the form of structured awareness-based
intrapersonal skills education increases quality of life and
decreases the chances of stress, burnout, depression, anxiety,
etc., all of which have become epidemic in their proportions
and have serious consequences on individuals, companies and
economies alike.
The term intrapersonal – “intra” meaning inside – separates our
inner functions and processes from the physiological functions of
the body. Learning intrapersonal skills opens up other skills, much
like learning to read; when we learn to read, many other skills
and competencies can be developed. In this sense, intrapersonal
skills form the foundation of any successful career, yet are lacking
in workplaces and the wider business world due to their absence
from current educational curriculum.
THE NEED FOR A MENTAL WELLNESS GYM
When mental wellness is considered in a proactive approach it can
be likened to going to the gym. Workplaces therefore need “mental
wellness gyms” where employees can train their knowledge-tools
and practice directing their own inner functions whenever they
need to.
There is strong and repeated evidence that intra-personal events
have a direct effect on the function and structure of the brain, and
therefore skills to direct these events can lead to changes in wiring
and neurotransmitter activity in the human brain.
Until people are educated to exercise methods of conscious
control over their emotional activation, it is only a matter of time
before the destructive automatic emotional-mental complexes get
triggered and initiate a cascade of problematic events, including
irrational or destructive behaviour. When people learn and realise
how their inner domain functions, a more sustainable way of han-dling,
as well as preventing problems, can emerge. n
Dr. Helena Lass is a psychiatrist specializing in mental wellness and
founder of Wellness Orbit.
health & wellness
FATIGUE, BOREDOM,
LACK OF ENGAGEMENT,
ABSENTEEISM AND
PRESENTISM ARE
ALL SYMPTOMS OF
INTERNAL MENTAL
MALFUNCTIONING.
Photo of Dr. Helena Lass: Krõõt Tarkmeel
36 ❚ AUGUST 2018 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL
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