https://unsplash.com/@finleydesign (Leaning trunk of a tree being propped up with a hand sculpture)
Let’s talk about mental health, can we? I’m asking because we don’t. At least not meaningfully.
Mental health is still not seen as something as vital as physical health. It’s hard to access care for it because it’s not often part of a benefits package that employers offer. When they do, the providers are few and far between because their reimbursement rates are insulting.
Common yet stigmatized health condition + limited access to care
= how are we supposed to get any work done?
I used to think mental health days were when I needed a break from work—to clear my mind. But I’m learning that those are actually preventative mental health days—taking a day off here and there keeps me centered. And those are important—an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. But what about when we’re not centered? When we’re fully off balance, feeling anxious about everything, panicking about small stuff and feeling sad about the state of the world—our world? What do we do when our prevention tactics haven’t worked and we’re looking for a cure?
I don’t know about you but I’ve never called out sick and shared that I was having an anxiety attack with my boss. But could there be ways that we normalize our mental health needs in professional spaces? If we’re not talking about it, it becomes very easy for office cultures to lean toward staying late with expectations for being able to reach you at all hours. And then we wonder why teams around the country are burning out. It doesn’t have to be this way. You don’t need to run around with a sign on your forehead identifying yourself with diagnoses. But I do think it’s helpful when coworkers can be real with each other. So one day mental health becomes a non-negotiable part of all employer-based health care packages, and so that one day it’s just as acceptable for us to take sick days for preventative mental health and anxiety treatment as it is for us to take them for colds or food poisoning.