Student Life August 2019

DR KATE BLACKFORD SPEAKS:
Mental Health Reflection in the Workplace
BY DR KATE BLACKFORD
Dave worked for a large manufacturing
company for fifteen years, having recently
left to join ABP, he reflects on his time in
manufacturing compared with his new role.
Dave, tell me about your time
working in manufacturing
It was kind of like going back to school –
you had set break times that were timed
on a buzzer and if you wanted to use the
bathroom outside of those break times
you would have to ask your line manager
if you could go. There was huge focus on
following the process, doing as you were
told and creativity was discouraged. We all
wore colour coded t-shirts which indicated
our rank in the company.
What impact did that have on you Dave?
Well, it had a pretty bad impact on my
health. I was working excessive hours
and I stopped taking holiday because I
just didn’t have the energy to organise
it. If I wasn’t working I was sleeping. I felt
constantly exhausted. My health started
to suffer too as the shift patterns began to
take a toll. I was feeling worse and worse
and developed Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
I stopped going out with friends, or
communicating with my wider family and
that caused them to worry. My life became
very small as I became more and more
depressed as I didn’t want to bring others
down with my problems.
What happened as time went on Dave?
Eventually I went off sick because I just
couldn’t cope any more. I had asked for
help, but had been made to feel like I was
at fault and so I stopped asking for help.
When I did meet with my manager I was
given a series of actions to ‘fix’ myself and
still felt unsupported. I was not able to
access the mental health support offered
by the company Employee Assistance
Programme because of my shift patterns
and how low I had got.
54 • AUGUST 2019 • STUDENT LIFE