Supporting the mental wellbeing of others - 2

Trigger Warning: this blog includes mention of suicide.

As World Mental Health Day is on Thursday 10 October 2024, the second part of our ‘how to support others to optimise their mental wellbeing’ blog, looks at the barriers we can face when supporting others and provides practical tips for how we, as individuals and organisations, can overcome them to create a supportive culture of prevention. You can read part one of this blog – here.

To find out more about World Mental Health Day, and to download a free poster and resource pack, please visit our World Mental Health Day page.

Why World Mental Health Day is important

‘One in four adults in England will experience a mental health problem at any one time and it is estimated that 75% of all lifetime mental health difficulties emerge by the age of 25 years. Poor mental health can cause significant disability, and for young people it is associated with an increased risk of antisocial behaviour, substance misuse, unemployment, and suicide.’ [1]

Barriers and their solutions

Over recent years there has quite rightly been increased attention on, and awareness about, work-related mental ill-health. There has also been great work done, and progress made, by charities and organisations themselves, and yet mental ill-health is still prevalent across UK organisations, and at particularly concerning levels in some sectors, e.g., the ones where we work: construction, transport and logistics, fire and security, manufacturing and agriculture. Therefore, in this section, I try to identify the barriers and propose some solutions in order to try to break down the fastidious elements preventing us from supporting our employees, colleagues, family, friends and communities.

Barriers and solutions

Barriers can come in many forms, some conscious, some unconscious; sometimes the barriers are self-imposed, at other times the barriers are put up by others. However, what we do know is that they will be different for each person, organisation and/or community. Therefore, the first thing we need to do is acknowledge them, so that we can address and overcome them.

It may be helpful to think about an example before reading the list. It could be a time when you have experienced mental ill-health yourself and/or when you have supported someone experiencing it. Try to think about what you thought and felt, what you said or didn’t say, how you acted, your body language and so on. All of these can be conscious and unconscious, actions and reactions, which we need to consider and address if they are reinforcing the barriers listed below.

As you will see, many of the solutions are focused on education and awareness raising, ensuring senior staff lead by example, demonstrating that it is okay to talk about mental health and that there is support available.

The list below is not exhaustive but can provide a starting point to put solutions in place.

1. Stigma

Barrier: For many people there is still a stigma surrounding mental health, and especially in talking about it, that prevents them from opening up, e.g., they think it is a sign of weakness, or that there is shame associated with it. According to a study [2], ‘Older workers were seen to be particularly unreceptive to open conversations about mental health, compared to their younger counterparts’. For others, they prefer self-reliance or see mental health as personal and not for sharing.

Solution: By creating an open, supportive culture in which senior staff and line managers lead by example – talk about their mental health; ask about the person and not just the work during meetings; educate staff to spot the signs of mental ill-health in themselves and others, and give them the confidence to ask questions and signpost support. As a result, workers will feel able to talk about their mental health and seek support if needed.

2. Culture

Barrier: In male dominated industries, e.g., the ones where we work, there is often a ‘macho’ or ‘masculine’ culture, where men think that stress is just a natural part of their work, and the combination of stigma with the fear of a negative reaction to personal disclosures, prevents individuals from seeking support when they need it.

Solution: please see 'Stigma' above.

3. Language

Barrier: Some words, expressions, terminology can reinforce the stigma, e.g., afflicted by, suffers from and victim of, are all negative based language and can prevent people from seeking support or reaching out to you as they may think you are not open to talking. Equally, telling people to ‘leave their problems at the door’ or ‘man up’ are equally unhelpful.

In addition, whilst laughter is a recognised way to relieve tension and help people bond, laughing off something serious, or making jokes about mental health reinforces the stigma.

Solution: It is helpful to educate people on the language they use – when you hear inappropriate language, say what it is, why it is inappropriate, and provide alternatives that can be used.

Supporters, please see the language cards available to download from the portal.

4. Management style

Barrier: Some management styles and/or ways of working can prevent people from starting a conversation, e.g., due to a lack of understanding about mental health and its implications for work, a manager may dismiss the subject without having a conversation. This could also be caused by an inability to identify the cause of mental ill-health and/or find solutions to mitigate them.

Solution: Provide training in line management; legal duties of care; leadership style; communications; time management; how to make work adjustments (if required); as well as mental health literacy and support. Also, most people like to be appreciated for the work they do – so don’t forget to recognise and reward good work.

5. Organisational

Barrier: Organisations can also create barriers through not having suitable policies or risk assessments in place (please see the section on organisations below). This can create an unsupportive culture that reinforces the stigma, because staff may not be aware of their legal duties, it may appear the organisation does not take mental health seriously, and/or staff do not know what to do if a colleague opens up about their mental health.

Solution:

Ensure you have senior leadership championing mental wellbeing in and through work.
Ensure managers are trained on their legal responsibilities.
Ensure the organisation has a mental health policy and stress risk assessments in place, and that they are reviewed and amended as necessary.
Create safe spaces where people can talk – this could be a room, or an outside space.

6. Resource

Barrier:

Firstly, sometimes managers, colleagues etc. feel they do not have enough time, or the requisite skills or confidence to start a conversation.
Secondly, some organisations believe there is a financial barrier to implementing mental health support.

Solution:

Firstly, employers have a legal duty of care in terms of health and safety, so mental health is part of everyone’s role. Secondly, training can provide both the skills and confidence needed.
Secondly, other organisations see it as an investment, in fact analysis shows that employers that proactively invest in mental health support for their workforce can make significant gains, with an average £5 return for every £1 spent on wellbeing support. [3]

7. Resistance to change

Barrier: This can be prevalent across the whole organisation, whether it is the adage, “it’s always been done this way” or, “nothing ever changes around here, so why try”.

Solution: This can be addressed through building an inclusive and open culture, as well as through education.

8. Access to support services

Barrier: Lack of knowledge about how to signpost to support and a perceived difficulty in accessing support either in terms of time or in cost.

Solution: If you are in crisis, please call 999. There are free support services available, e.g., through calling 111 (option 2), or speaking to your GP. Alternatively, it is worth looking at using your organisation’s EAP or occupational health if you have them or talking to a charity (a list of support services can be found on this page). Finally, if you are able to, there are also private counselling services available.

9. Confidentiality and trust

Barrier: Some people fear they may receive a negative reaction if they speak about their mental health, e.g., in terms of their job security, or losing a friend. They may worry that what they say will be shared with other people. They may not know who they can trust.

For those listening to someone speak about their mental health, they may worry about saying the wrong thing or that it might put an idea in someone’s head.

Solution: The solutions lie in education, training and culture.

10. Lack of education / poor mental health literacy

Barrier: People do not have knowledge or experience of mental ill-health and therefore lack the confidence, skills and tools to support someone in need. Some people may be unable to identify mental ill-health in themselves – e.g., people may not associate their lack of sleep, or drinking/eating/gambling excessively etc. with stress.

Solution:

Create peer support through training all staff in how to spot the signs, start a conversation and actively listen.
Train Mental Health First Aiders to provide additional support.
Make sure training is built into inductions for new starters and is included in ongoing health and safety training.

11. Self-reliance

Barrier: Some people may find it difficult to ask for help, there can be a number of reasons for this, including – cultural [4], religious, educational, gender barriers.

Solution: Through improving the working culture, it can help to overcome some of these barriers.

12. Hopelessness

Barrier: Feeling like no one can help. This may be borne out of having tried to access support previously and yet they are still experiencing the same issues.

Solution: This is a good example for signposting – finding the correct resource for the individual to ensure they get a positive experience. Reassure them, that you will be there to listen and support where you can, whilst they are finding the right support service for them.

13. Nature of work

Barrier: The transient nature of some jobs either in terms of time away from home and/or working on short term contracts, particularly in construction, or time away from a central site, e.g., transport, can make it hard for workers to access consistent support.

Solution: Main contractors extending their EAP, Occupational Health and/or MHFA’s can help. Also, signposting to services that can be accessed from anywhere, e.g., text BeAMate to 85258 for 24/7 free support.

To find out more about how to spot the signs and start a conversation about mental ill-health, please read the first blog in this series, download free resources and discover training options.

What can organisations do to overcome the barriers?

As mentioned above, employers have a legal duty of care to ensure the health (including mental health) and safety of their employees. This includes, protecting workers from stress at work by doing a risk assessment and acting on it.

In their long-term strategy, the HSE [5] have included a strategic objective to, ‘Reduce work-related ill health, with a specific focus on mental health and stress.’ This is because, ‘The most commonly reported causes [of work-related ill health] in Great Britain are now stress, depression, or anxiety’.

Employers should, therefore, ‘Assess the risk of stress, and its impact on mental and physical ill-health, in the same way as you assess other work-related health and safety risks.’ [6]

In a recent article [7], the author noted that ‘Earlier this year, the HSE confirmed active investigations concerning suspected organisational failures in managing mental health risks. Considering the substantial number of workdays lost each year to poor employee mental health and several recent high-profile suicide cases tied to job-related stress, businesses should anticipate more investigations in the upcoming months and years.’

It should, therefore, concern organisations that a study [8] found that, ‘Interviewees referred to a lack of understanding about their roles and responsibilities as an employer or manager related to mental health at work: ‘there might be a government policy in place, I genuinely don’t know’’.

Recent research also identified that, ‘While 54% of employers claimed to have asked what mental health provision employees need, only 15% of employees said they have actually been asked’. It also found that whilst ‘47% of employers said they offer regular workload reviews to their employees, but just 14% of employees said they receive this’. [9] The solution, naturally, sits with communication – not just making employees aware, and reinforcing that messaging, but also about ensuring the information has been received and understood.

Another area for concern is that for SMEs and sole traders, it can be particularly hard to access the support services offered by larger organisations. This is why we are encouraging medium and large sized organisations to extend their mental health provision to their supply chains, contractors etc. Ensuring your procurement processes consider mental health and your payment terms do not financially disadvantage organisations working for you, is part of the solution. Find out how you can support your supply chain through our Champions Programme.

If you have been reading the blogs in this series, you will know there are many positive outcomes for looking after the mental health of everyone working in or for your organisation (e.g., increased productivity, lower sickness and staff turnover etc.). Add to that the cost of a successful HSE prosecution, and now really is the time to ensure you have the right policies, plans and processes in place within your organisation. This should include a mental health policy and individual stress risk assessment.

Supporters, please visit the ‘Developing’ section, and Supporter Lite organisations should visit the ‘Additional Resources’ section, in the portal to download a Mental Health Policy template and a comprehensive Individual Stress Risk Assessment template.

Next steps

In this blog we have looked at how to overcome the barriers to providing support to those around you to try to prevent someone reaching the point of crisis. The next blog in the series will be published in November.  

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If you have enjoyed reading this blog, please share a link to it on your social media channels and if you are able to, we would really appreciate you finding out how you can support us to raise awareness of mental health, address the stigma and create positive mental health in and through work.