MENTAL HEALTH IN THE WORKPLACE

I am so happy that this video has been produced. If even only one other person sees this video, I know that the message is being shared.
I sincerely want to thank the students in our class that worked so hard to have this video produced.

I know many friends and family members whose daily lives are impacted by the effects of poor mental health. My father has suffered from Bipolar Disorder for most of his life and my best friend just lost her brother to suicide at the age of 19 after suffering from schizophrenia for many years. What I find so frustrating at times is the sigma surrounding mental illness and the fact that no one talks about it. The more that I myself open up and share their stories, the more I hear from other individuals who are sharing their own stories of similar situations.

There is a reciprocal relationship between mental health and well being. As an individual, your mental health is likely to improve by increased your well being and your well being can be increased by improving your mental health.

As 1 in 5 Canadians suffer from mental illness, it is worrisome that 70-90% of these individuals are unemployed. Having meaningful occupation is vital component of promoting positive mental health. There are many myths surrounding mental health and the workplace, and this video works to dispel these myths.

As I come to the end of my undergraduate student career in health sciences, I have come to learn that knowledge is the key to change. In health promotion, we need to inform all parties involved; the participants, the professionals and the public as to what the reality of a situation contains. To promote change and improve health, we need to first understand the current status. We must understand how we think, why we do the things that we do and the way in which society views us. We need to learn about what has been done in the past, and compare the solutions proposed for the future with evidence based practice. If we fail to plan ahead and back up our claims with factual information, we are doomed to repeat the mistakes we’ve made. We then need to conduct research to ensure that the information we provide will correctly alter the misconceptions of the public.

When the individuals put together this infographic, they first discovered the common misconceptions that are maintaining the negative status quo. They conducted research to find the truths to these myths and backed it up with research. This information now needs to be shared with the public. As this information has been presented in a visually appealing manner, it can be understood by all, social media will now take hold. We need to get the information out there. This video needs to be shared. We need to stop living as we wrongfully discriminate against those with mental illness. Stigmatization is an issue with mental health and increasing awareness is the only way to eliminate it.