Last Wednesday, Alycia Bird, from Wesley Mission, together with Amber Clode and Sam Wanjama (photo above, from right, with our meeting chairman of the day Simon Brook), gave us a presentation on how important it is to retain your mental health, particularly in difficult times. Did you know that in Australia, 1 in 6 Australians of working age experienced diagnosable mental health issues? 1 in 3 experience mental health struggles to the point of having a detrimental impact on their working ability? That some 11.2% of the Australian population received Medicare assisted mental health services in 2019-20 - up from 6.2% in 2009-10?
Obviously, the costs are huge. "Mental Health is just as important as physical health," Alycia explained. It's not just on the job performance, but also results in increased absenteeism.
So, what makes a healthy work place? One of the prime factors is communication with staff, making them aware of mental health awareness. "For every dollar spent on a program, you can expect a return of $2.30" she said.
The presentation included techniques on how to recognise the symptoms of burn-out and how to offer staff support. Just one tip of many, very effective and free of charge: BREATHE! When feeling stressful, slowly inhale deeply and exhale.even slower. Repeat. Alright: One more: Laughter!
Last but not least: Sam Wanjama informed about Marcus Mission, a Wesley Mission division dealing with training mentors to prevent Men's Suicide. (You may recall Glenn Walwork's presentation on this last year?)
Regrettably, a carefully prepared PowerPoint Alycia brought along could not be shown - the SLSC's laptop had gone walk-about... The entire presentation is up in our Download files on the right. Download it and check out all the relevant links too.