TOO much lip service is being paid to mental health with not enough action taken, especially in the workplace.
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New figures reveal the majority of businesses in the state are failing to address mental health and its impact on work, despite it costing billions of dollars annually in lost productivity.
“The better the state of mind, the output is obviously going to be a lot higher,” Tamworth man Peter Annis-Brown said.
He has been on a mission to improve physical and mental health in the region and wasn’t surprised to hear less than 10 per cent of businesses in NSW have an “integrated approach” to mental health.
Using his start-up business, Mr Annis-Brown offers programs, including mental health first-aid courses, showing people and organisations “proactive and preventative” approaches to psychological well-being.
While awareness of the mental health burden on the workplace is very high, he says too few are stepping up and addressing the issue.
“I pitch these programs to businesses and they say ‘we’d love to, talk to me next month’, but that keeps rolling into the next month and the month after that,” he said.
“The lip service paid to mental health is exactly that.”
Mr Annis-Brown pushes the link between physical and mental health and he’s also driven by loss of two close mates to suicide.
Tamworth psychologist Dimity Smith said there was a huge economic yield for businesses which invest in employees’ mental well-being, according to research.
"For every $1 invested by an employer on a mental health action, the return is $2.30 in benefits to be gained," Ms Smith said.
She said resilience was something that could be learnt and developed, to help keep people psychologically healthy at work.
"What are we doing to help people feel they'll be able to bounce back?" Ms Smith said.
"Employee assistance programs are great, but they're not nearly as effective as giving people the skills and strategies to cope themselves.”