Mental health refers to cognitive, behavioral and emotional well-being. It is about how people think, feel and behave. People sometimes use the term “mental health” to refer to the absence of a mental disorder. However, mental health can affect daily life, relationships and physical health. Therefore, it is common to encounter mental health problems at work and we often don’t realize it. How do we know? How can we detect these kinds of problems? Can they be avoided? What are the solutions? For these and many other frequently asked questions you can find answers in the following lines…

What can cause mental health problems at work?

Factors in people’s lives, interpersonal connections and physical factors can all contribute to poor mental health. Taking care of mental health, then, can preserve a person’s ability to enjoy life. Doing so involves balancing life activities, responsibilities, and efforts to achieve psychological resilience. Stress, depression and anxiety can affect mental health and disrupt a person’s routine.

Although health professionals often use the term mental health, physicians recognize that many psychological disorders have physical roots. In any case, we can address these problems, through ChVmpion Mind. Read on and find out all about it!

What is mental health?

Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, while contributing to their community.

The WHO states that mental health is “more than the absence of mental disorders or disabilities”. Maximum mental health is not just about managing active conditions, but also about caring for wellbeing and continued happiness. Preserving and restoring mental health is crucial at the individual, community and societal levels. Therefore, preventing these kinds of mental health problems is not only an individual priority, but also a collective one.

Very few people have the willpower to maintain healthy habits or to make great achievements, but many people have the talent to take giant steps, if only they would rely on methodologies such as ChVmpion Mind”.

José L. Meléndez. CEO of Chvmpion Mind

How can ChVmpion Mind help combat mental health problems at work?

ChVmpion Mind is a proven methodology. It integrates science, technology and agile coaching. Its use and application has proven to be effective in increasing productivity and well-being. At the same time, it focuses on personal well-being, especially related to mental health issues. ChVmpion Mind offers you:

• Work in parallel on personal well-being and at least 1 professional goal per week.
• It generates great impact for users and considerable monetary savings for the company.
• The impact is highly positive in terms of work performance and personal well-being for each of the workers who take the 21-week ChVmpion Mind program challenge.

Mental health is about wellness rather than illness.

To clarify things a bit, some experts have tried to come up with different terms to explain the difference between “mental health” and “mental health conditions.” Several people have proposed phrases such as “good mental health,” “positive mental health,” “mental well-being,” “subjective well-being,” and even “happiness.” To emphasize that mental health is about wellness and not illness. While, some say this has been helpful, others argue that using more words to describe the same thing only adds to the confusion.

As a result, others have tried to explain the difference by talking about a continuum where mental health is at one end of the spectrum, represented by feeling well and functioning well, while mental health conditions (or mental illness) are at the other end, represented by symptoms that affect people’s thoughts, feelings or behavior. However, here we try to understand mental health problems at work.

Many of the mental health problems of workers are related to demotivation at work. 45% of those surveyed stated that they do not feel motivated in their current job.

Your employees are people both on and off the job…

We often neglect this simple fact, assuming that our co-workers are like machines that don’t require much mental stimulation or awareness. This is why it is critical to be aware of and sensitive to the mental well-being of our employees. Because, everyone can experience mental health problems at work.

The workplace itself can create mental health problems or worsen existing conditions if not detected early. Many employees struggle with substance abuse or mental illness and the pressure to perform comes from peers and upper management. Our employees may look good from an outsider’s perspective, but often they are dealing with much more under the surface, they may be dealing with mental health issues at work.

Mental Health Problems at Work: Risk Factors

Several factors can lead to mental health problems at work. Risk factors can include personal factors, workplace problems, interpersonal problems and a variety of other elements that directly influence a person’s mental health. Here are some risk factors that can lead to mental health problems in workers:

Stress:

This is the number one factor in poor mental health and among the most common problems at work. Stress can lead to serious consequences: pressure from management or other co-workers, job insecurity, long hours and a heavy workload.

Burnout:

Most workers experience burnout at least once in their lifetime as an employee. Job burnout can look like lack of energy and demotivation, irritability, frustration, and lack of satisfaction with work goals and accomplishments. Burnout can trigger mental health and work problems.

Lack of clarity or leadership:

If a person’s role and responsibilities are unclear, or if there is a lack of communication between employees and management, this creates a tense environment to work in, likely triggering, mental health problems at work.

Lack of employee support:

All of the above problems and more boil down to lack of employee support. Employee support means providing outlets to discuss new ideas, frustrations and opinions; openly discussing mental health issues or managers leading by example. Mental health problems in the workplace can stem simply from a lack of employee support.

Mental health problems in the workplace:

Whether at a desk, in the field or working from home, we spend most of our week at work. Because so much of our time is spent working with others, we need to be aware of mental health issues at work as employers so that we can better support and advocate for our employees.

• Depression. It can lead to problems at home, stress, feeling incompetent or unimportant, and many other components.
• Depression as one of the mental health issues at work can trigger:
• Low motivation or fatigue.
• Unusual absences and drop in productivity.
• Discussion or jokes of suicidal thoughts or intentions.
• Regularly skipping lunch, not eating
• Drug or alcohol abuse
• Anxiety
• Anxiety
• Substance use disorder