Breaking Down Stigma in the Workplace

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Make a hell for me Mental health for you. Come on, everybody, let your love shine through. Whether you're a family member, a friend or a stranger Everyone everywhere let kindness matter. Let kindness matter, matter, matter. Let kindness better Mental health for all. [00:00:28] Speaker B: A message from the Barbados Psychiatric Hospital in association with the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Barbados. And joining me this morning is Dr. Kiyo Ford St. Hill, and she is a consultant psychiatrist, but also the program lead for this very special project where it's all about prioritizing mental health in the workplace. Good morning. [00:00:54] Speaker C: Good morning, Carol. [00:00:56] Speaker B: How are you? [00:00:57] Speaker C: I'm good. How are you doing? [00:00:58] Speaker B: Cannot complain, will not complain. [00:01:01] Speaker C: Good. [00:01:02] Speaker B: Fantastic. So we're getting ready, continuing not getting ready with this is week two and this week we're dealing with breaking down stigma in the workplace. So I want to know this morning, what does mental health stigma look like in the workplace and why are employees hesitant to seek help? So that's like a double whammy question. What does it look like and why are employees hesitant to seek help when they feel like there's stigma attached to them at work? [00:01:32] Speaker C: So the workplace is a reflection of society really. So there is stigma attached to mental health, mental illness and seeking mental health care. Right. So mental, the stigma against mental illness or mental health any workplace could look like, for example, not having the established mental health wellness program. No discussion about mental illness in the workplace. The colleagues and even employers not being by employers, I mean supervisors, not necessarily just the owners, but management level, not being sympathetic to what it is that the the employee is going through. The employee not being comfortable going to their supervisor or employer because they know that a. Let's give an example like you have to see your psychologist or you have to see your psychiatrist once a month and there's no provision for you to go to the doctor for that reason without getting deducted in pay. There's no insurance coverage for your employees for mental health care. So those are just some of the examples. Of course, you know, it's the typical everyday, you know, oh, she, she mad, don't mind she because she mad. She getting all like that because you know she got mental illness. You know, that's the way that person is behaving in that way. So using incorrect language in the workplace as well and just not protecting or providing care for your employees. [00:03:19] Speaker B: Okay, so why are employees hesitant to seek help? [00:03:26] Speaker C: For the same reason the stigma. So if you have to. So a lot of the times with mental illness you would have is ongoing. So it's a chronic disease like diabetes or high blood Pressure, so you're going to have regular appointments. Some people are not given the time to get the care that they need. Then some people fear the backlash and the victimization that they may get at work. So you may be viewed as being weak or lesser than, or you may, then things may become uncomfortable for you in the workplace with your colleagues and then your supervisors as well. Some people fear being fired or dismissed unfairly. Yes, they may find, you know, I would hate to think that it happens, but we know that it does. Where they find another reason. But we know that the reason they really wanted to let you go was because of your mental health condition or that, you know, one of the things we touched on last week was that one of the important, one of the reasons that mental health in the workplace is important because it affects productivity and not just if you have an established illness, but even stress and burnout. So the reality is that if you're burnt out, you're not going to be as productive. And a lot of. And some employers do not make provisions for that. There are no allowances. You don't get any, you know, no graces are extended to you. All they care about is the bottom line. But I don't want to make it seem like we're just beating down all the employers because the truth is that this is to help educate them and build them up. But these are some of the reasons that they're afraid to seek here. They also don't want other people, not just at work, but just in their general life know, because even within yourself, because you have internal stigma where you feel like you are lesser than, that you are not good enough now that you've decided to seek care. [00:05:25] Speaker B: So we looked a little bit at what that stigma looks like, mental health stigma looks like in the workplaces, some of the reasons why employees may be hesitant to seek help. So I want to know how can stigma directly affect the mental health of employees and the overall workplace culture? Because if you know what it looks like or you think you do, people are afraid to say anything. Now we got to look at that stigma, as in how does that directly affect the mental health? [00:05:53] Speaker C: So if you have an employee who already has a mental health condition, so someone who has a chronic established illness like anti st or diabetes or even high blood pressure or any of those things, and the mental health of that employee is not taken care of, or they are afraid to seek the care that they need for their condition. So even with the other physical NCDs and the mental NCDs, you don't seek the Care that you're supposed to seek, then that worsens your condition because just like high blood pressure, just like diabetes, where you have to take your tablets, you have to check your readings on a regular basis and get blood tests. Similarly, for your mental health illnesses, you need to have your regular checkups with your doctor or your nurse. And you need to take medication. Well, you need that. You need to seek therapeutic options, which may be medication, which may be the form of psychotherapy. But people are. When people are afraid to seek help, then the illness gets worse. Somebody who, so that's somebody who already has an established diagnosis, somebody who may be suffering a temporary mental health issue may actually progress to further health issue, whether it is mental or it can progress physically. So, for example, you are very stressed out or you have the death of a loved one, right? So you're experiencing grief and you are not. You're given just the day for the funeral for your grandmother because it's not a direct relative, it's not your mom, not your child. And you only got the time to go to the funeral. You don't get other time to grieve. Nobody is lightening your workload at work. Basically, we not really supporting you or feelings for you, right? And you continue to have the same workload and you can actually then progress to further mental health issue or then you get, your blood pressure goes up, you get worsening of migraines, you may even develop because of the chronic stress at work, plus what's going on at home, you develop diabetes, you develop issues with your skin, where your thyroid, all these different things. So this is what can happen when we don't make allowances for supporting our workers. [00:08:29] Speaker B: Wow. Really, really interesting. Okay, we're going to take a little break and come back with more. And I'm talking to Dr. Keo Ford St. Hill. It's all about workplace and managing mental health in the workplace. Dr. Ford, even though I've gotten into this habit of calling you Dr. Keough. [00:08:47] Speaker C: Now, and I told you that is perfectly fine, Carol. [00:08:51] Speaker B: Fantastic. Good. So let's continue. What actions can employers take to reduce that kind of stigma in the workplace in order to create a more inclusive, healthy work environment? [00:09:05] Speaker C: So there are a few things, and I could talk about implementing mental health policies all day, but for one, you need to have an actual established mental health policy. Because if you don't have that, then how do you know how to respond to a situation when an employee or another colleague is suffering from a mental health issue, whether that is stress, burnout, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, how do you know what to do when you suspect that there's a worker who has a substance use issue? All these things, then you find yourself scrambling when you get to the actual urgent point. The other, excuse me, to the listeners, the other point that they need to implement is also to educate your employees, educate yourself as the employer, as the manager, as the supervisor about mental illness, about mental health, workplace policies, so that you people are more, your employees and yourself are more aware of issues that can result, you would be more vigilant. And then in the policies, they need to make allowances for making adjustments to an employee's work condition. So if that is, it may be a temporary thing, it may be a more long term thing. So temporarily, let's look at special populations like mothers and even fathers. So parents after the birth of a child, extending maybe the maternity or paternity leave as they currently stand, because that brings stress on that parent, you have to make a decision between being there for your child in terms of being physically there or their childcare and as well as providing for them financially, being at work. So are providing breast pumping, breastfeeding or breast pumping rooms, because there are many women who've gone back to work, had to stop breastfeeding because there's nowhere but the bathroom and there's nothing clean about that. Nothing at all. [00:11:23] Speaker B: We can't, we can't go any further, Dr. Keough. [00:11:25] Speaker C: Yeah, I know. [00:11:26] Speaker B: Officially out of time, but I'm really looking forward to continuing discussion next week. So much that we can discuss. Thank you so much. [00:11:36] Speaker C: You're welcome. Thank you. You too. [00:11:38] Speaker B: Bye. Bye. And of course, that was Dr. Keough, Ford, Thorn, St. Hill and all about mental health in the workplace. [00:11:49] Speaker A: We must be supportive Mental health need to be scorned Mental health for all Learn how to approach this Mental health for all Be friend or family it's mental health, Mental health for all it's mental health, Mental health for all it's mental health, Mental health for all it's mental health, Mental health for all. [00:12:19] Speaker B: A message from the Barbados Psychiatric Hospital in association with the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Barbados.