Is There A Psychotherapist In The House?

How much would your business benefit from a mental health professional?

When I was in my early twenties, I took a part time job typing up adverts for an American-owned free ads newspaper to supplement my student loan as I put myself thought university. Think of Craigslist but in print form and you will have some idea of what this newspaper was all about.

I touch typed the ‘for sale’ and ‘personal’ adverts that people called in and left on recorded messages and I worked a five-hour session three times a week. That was a lot of typing.

The company that owned the newspaper was very modern. Staff had access to a large and funky chill out room, fresh fruit and fruit juices were freely available and there was even an in-house physiotherapist. Every five-hour session, every worker received a free back massage (if the wanted one) and every hour, on the hour, the physio came out and made everyone stand up, take a five minute break from their station, and perform an energetic muscle-stretching, bone-flexing exercise routine. We all thought this was really progressive and cool.

I went out for a drink after work with the physio one night and told her so. “It’s so progressive and cool,” I said. She laughed and told me that’s not why they did it.

“Why do they do it then?” I asked.

She told me that because of her role, people were not only much less likely to suffer from repetitive strain injuries (RSI) and back injuries through work but also, if they somehow did and they tried to sue because of them, they would not be able to make such a claim stick.

I was impressed and changed my appraisal from ‘cool’ to ‘cunning.’

The company were looking after their staff for sure (which was nice) but also looking out for themselves (which was just common sense) as, back then, RSI and back problems were the number one cause of staff absenteeism in the workplace. Fast forward to the now and mental health issues are the number one cause of staff absenteeism.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), one in four of us will have to deal with a mental health problem at some point in our lives and worldwide 450 million people are dealing with a mental health issue at any one time. Mental health disorders, you see, are among the leading causes of ill health and disability around the globe. ¹

And the above statistics are all pre-Coronavirus. Since then, things have gone through the roof.

I recently had the opportunity to sit on a panel discussing employee wellbeing in the hospitality industry and discussed the above. I also commented on what employers can do to help their staff. This was timely as a very recent survey found that, here in the UK at least, employee mental health was a concern for a significant proportion of employers. ²

Going back to my RSI analogy, if an in-house physio was sensible then, there to treat what was the number one cause of staff sickness at the time, then why not an in-house psychotherapist to address the number one cause of employee absenteeism now?

Given the current situation with economies all around the globe, that might sound financially risky, but is it?

I am a big fan of prevention rather than rehabilitation. So too, I’m guessing, were the individuals that owned the free ads newspaper I was working on. If you give people access to psychological tools and get them to practice them on a regular basis, if you give people time to discuss their concerns before anything escalates into anxiety, then you will probably be spending less by heading things off at that pass than you would once that staff member has to take time off and seek professional help (possibly through your company healthcare plan) after things have gotten too much for them.

If you don’t want to think about an in-house psychotherapist, then you might want to think about mental health first aiders.

These are members of staff who are not only trained to spot the early warning signs of a mental health condition or mental health event (such as a panic attack) but have also learned how to diffuse the situation in the moment and, more importantly, who, how and where to sign post them on for professional help.

Do you know how to spots the signs and symptoms of mental health problems? Would you know where to send someone if they needed help?

Currently, in my experience, health anxieties are running rampant as are anxiety issues centred around uncertainty (as there’s a lot of that going on at the moment) and control (or lack thereof).

We’re also likely to see a rise in trauma and PTSD (from those who have directly or indirectly experienced the effects of COVID-19) and burnout from those who have simply lost the ability to deal with everything we currently have to deal with. Burnout was officially recognised as a diagnosable syndrome only last year.

And, talking of diagnoses, we also have what we call adjustment disorders.

This is a group of symptoms that include the physical and well as the psychological and can occur after you go through a big stressful life event or a big life adjustment. Sufferers have a hard time coping and their reactions are stronger than expected for the type of event that occurred.

Every single one of us has just gone through two really big adjustments in fairly rapid succession. Firstly, we had to come to terms with life under lockdown (practically overnight) and then secondly, just as we were getting used to the lockdown life, we were asked to emerge and reengage with an ever-changing life alongside Coronavirus.

We’re all going through a lot and we are all a little extra stressed and vulnerable.

If you run a business, you have staff. You also have clients, or guests, or customers. What happens when a stressed-out member of staff meets a stressed-out guest or customer?

What could that cost you?

When your staff are calm, confident and reassured, they will pass those qualities on to your customer base in a myriad of happy, helpful and affirming ways.

When it comes to employee wellbeing, do you want to be seen as progressive and cool, or do you want to be thought of as cold and parsimonious?

Mental health issues are costly in a variety of ways, hiring a mental health professional could be the most practical thing you do for your business this year or next.