TPi_Magazine__February_2018

PSA: THE BIGGER PICTURE
IMPROVING OUR APPROACH
TO MENTAL HEALTH
The PSA’s Andy Lenthall discusses the ostensibly different ways in which our industry deals with the
physical and mental health problems faced by its employees; and what we can do to change things
for the better moving forward.
I had flu recently. I don’t believe in man flu. I had flu and some of you will
know what I’m talking about. It was impressive, it had my full respect
and admiration - I was useless. In my case, the flu lasted 5 days; 3 days
off work and a wasted weekend. For others it took longer, perhaps due
to a different strain, perhaps due to their physiological ability to cope
with a viral invasion. So what? Because I managed to shake it in a few
days, does that make me better that someone who felt the effects for a
fortnight? Do they not need to just man up? Who am I to suggest they do?
Physical illness affects different people in different ways, I understand
that and that’s my approach to the physical wellbeing of my family,
friends and colleagues. Can the same be said for our approach to mental
health? We think there’s room for improvement.
Hence the title, we make no apologies for the amount of times we will
repeat that phrase. We’re not raising awareness, we’ve had quite enough
of awareness, too many people have lost too many friends, we’re all very
aware. What we now need is a better understanding of how to be more
open, make it easier to talk and be better at encouraging people to seek the
help that they might need.
The great news is that some of the answers are out there already;
it should be easy to make a positive change. We’re keen to encourage
companies to sign up to the Time To Change employer pledge. As they say,
when you sign the Employer Pledge you demonstrate your commitment
to change how we think and act about mental health in the workplace
and make sure that employees who are facing these problems feel
supported. For those who need more than just the ‘it’s the right thing to
do’ motivation, there are financial benefits. Looking after the mental health
of your employees makes business sense: tackling stigma can make a real
difference to sickness absence rates, presenteeism levels, staff wellbeing
and productivity, and retention. Since signing the Employer Pledge, 95% of
employers said it had a positive impact on their organisation.
This is the point where we throw in a few figures:
• 1 in 4 British workers are affected by conditions like anxiety,
depression and stress every year.
• Mental ill-health is the leading cause of sickness absence in the UK,
costing an average of £1,035 per employee per year.
• 95% of employees calling in sick with stress gave a different reason.
Look at that last figure again. Ninety five percent of people with a valid
reason for absence feel that they need to give another reason. How can an
employer address the cause when employees don’t feel able to report the
true problem?
We do like to think that we’re a caring bunch, our door is always open,
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