Mental Health in the Work Environment

Mental Health in the Work Environment

      The condition of mental health in Indonesia from year to year has been getting better. This is shown by the increasing number of consultation services with online psychologists and communities concerned with mental health. Reporting from VOA Indonesia, awareness of mental health in Indonesia is still hampered by the stigma circulating in society. Many people who complain about their mental health are judged to be less grateful, grateful, or (when things get too bad) crazy, so they can't recover. These stigmas make many people with mental health disorders tend to hide their condition.

      Even though people are increasingly aware of mental health, there are still many people who think mental health is not a significant problem. Mental health is still considered an abstract matter compared to physical health which is more easily seen by the eyes and touched by the skin. So that public concern for sufferers of mental disorders is often inappropriate and even worsens the situation.

WHY IS MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS IMPORTANT IN THE WORK ENVIRONMENT?

      According to a clinical psychiatrist professor from New York University Langone School of Medicine, Charles Goldstein, states that the human brain is closely related to the endocrine system which releases important hormones and influences mental health. So when there is a mental disorder, it means biologically, there is a disturbance in the working system of the human brain. The disruption to the workings of the brain, based on facts published by the World Health Organization (WHO), has caused significant economic losses. It is estimated that global economic losses are $1 Trillion due to reduced productivity due to mental health problems. Disruption of mental health can affect work performance and productivity, relationships between co-workers, physical abilities, and one's daily life both at work and at home.

   CAUSES OF DISORDERED MENTAL HEALTH IN THE WORK ENVIRONMENT

      Factors that cause mental health disorders can take various forms. One internal cause is a genetic disorder or a family history of mental disorders. In addition, there are also external factors that arise from the work environment, namely;

• Poor communication and management systems;
• unclear organizational goals and tasks;
• Low support to and between employees;
• Working hours are too restrictive to the point that it interferes with personal life;
• Limited space for expression;
• The exclusivity of decisions or the opportunity to participate is only for employees of a certain class;
• Inappropriate assignment of individual employee competencies;
• Bullying between employees.

WHAT SHOULD BE DONE IF THERE ARE EMPLOYEES EXPERIENCING MENTAL HEALTH DISORDERS IN THE OFFICE?

     Reporting from WHO, organizations have a responsibility to support the mental health of each of its employees by creating a healthy work environment and away from external factors that cause mental health disorders.

     Individually, employees can provide mutual support by being more sympathetic and empathetic when a co-worker complains or appears to have mental health problems by not giving negative stigmas that worsen the mental state of employees if they are unable to provide psychological support.

     Quoted from VOA Indonesia's interview with Psychiatrist Andreas Kurniawan, "Usually I will give an analogy like this: People with asthma who experience shortness of breath, we never stigmatize him, 'why are you having shortness of breath? This is my mediocre breath'.”

     "Therefore, we can present depressed individuals with the same image. He didn't say that he didn't want to be happy or go through hardship. However, due to biological limitations, he finds it challenging to experience pleasure in his head, said the man, who works in the Indonesian Psychiatric 

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO TO KEEP YOUR MENTAL HEALTH?

     The biggest responsibility in maintaining individual mental health lies with each employee. Reporting from WHO, the following are ways to be responsible for the mental health of each person:

• Getting used to a healthy lifestyle such as exercising regularly, eating a balanced diet, and getting enough sleep

Research proves that there is a close correlation between physical and mental health. Exercise is able to encourage the body to produce hormones that are good for the body so as to produce positive emotions.

• Improve Individual Coping Skills

Quoted from the Medical Dictionary, coping skills are a pattern of character or behavior that can improve a person's adaptability. Coping skills can also be seen as an ability to deal with stress to encourage oneself to keep moving forward to achieve the goals that have been set.

• Ask for Help

Trying to be alone is fine but when you feel like you can't handle something alone, it's important to ask others for help. The ugly truth is not everything that other people can do can also be done yourself.

• Train Yourself To Be Open Minded

God created humans with unique and different characters, so it is important for each individual to try to accept this uniqueness and difference without giving stigma