Challenge the Mental Health Stigma
The mental health stigma today is increasingly a talking point amongst people of many walks of life. This ranges from celebrities, students and politicians to name a few. But, what about business owners and their employees? Our CEO Aaron Crewe caught up with The Federation of Small Businesses in order to talk about the steps novi.digital carry out to challenge the mental health stigma
FSB member Aaron Crewe talks about the steps his business @novidigital has taken to challenge mental health stigma in the workplace and ensure his employees have the support they need. Visit our #FSBwellbeing hub for more: https://t.co/3pBj91WKub pic.twitter.com/gcDDjUfbRW
— FSB (@fsb_policy) 24 October 2018
If you suffer with mental health or know someone who does or has in the past, it is very likely you have heard of the mental health stigma. Stigma refers to a negative stereotype; most people who live with mental illness have at some point, been blamed for their condition. Referring to their symptoms as “a phase” or being told to “stop being so soft and “if only you tried being stronger” and the worse one “people have it so much worse than you.”
These comments and the overall mental health stigma cause people to feel ashamed about their illness and, even worse, ashamed to talk about it.
One of the most challenging aspects of mental health is talking about it. We believe everyone should be able to express how they are feeling without negative consequences. As employees or as the employer, if you are not feeling yourself and you are finding things difficult, this can have a major influence on the business.
Approximately 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year. There are many types of mental health problems, some of the most common ones are generalised anxiety disorder, depression, phobias and panic disorder. To see a full list of mental health disorders, please visit here.
If you have watched the video on FSB’s Twitter or Facebook, you will have an idea of the steps we have taken to battle the stigma. At novi.digital, we are a people focused business, so we allow people to take breaks, make mistakes and talk about how they are feeling. We also have a policy called respite, which is a very simple policy that says if you need a break, you don’t need to explain yourself. It’s a period that is undefined, where you can go for a walk, go get a coffee, or just chat to a colleague on the sofa.
In the video you will see Aaron speak out against the mental health stigma. We welcome your thoughts, either on