Making mental health a priority in 2022

What is mental health and why should we be making a priority of it in the coming year?

The World Health Organization defines mental health as:

“Mental Health is defined as a state of well-being in which every individual realises his or her potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community”.

Each and every one of us has mental health, just as we have physical health. Our fitness levels can vary through our lifetime and sometimes we can get injured and need to recover.

The past couple of years have been challenging, unsettling and have brought a lot of uncertainty into our lives. Our work routines have been disrupted, our freedom to roam has been curtailed and we’ve had to spend a whole lot of time indoors, sometimes alone or sometimes unable to get some alone time. This has increased stress levels which has increased the risk of people developing mental ill health.

If we want ourselves, our work colleagues, our teams, our families to continue to be well, to continue to meet or exceed their potential, to continue to be able to cope with what happens on a day-to-day basis and to continue to be productive and make valuable contributions then we need to prioritise mental health.

This needn’t be onerous or difficult – it can be a simple as having a conversation, as simple as asking ‘How are you’ and as simple as listening to the answer. The biggest positive impact you can have is to foster a culture where people are not afraid to answer ‘How are you’ honestly and openly.