WayAhead

Mental Health - Education, Support and Prevention

Meet Alice Cheok: The Grateful Refugee

It is stories like Alice Cheok’s that remind us that while migrants have a past, they also have a future here and have so much to offer to the Australian community.

It is stories like Alice Cheok’s that remind us that while migrants have a past, they also have a future here and have so much to offer to the Australian community.

Alice (left) with Cindee (writer)

When I first spoke to Alice, I felt immediately at ease, like a patient confiding in their trusted counsellor. She had a soft voice – the kind where if you were having a bad day, she would be there to listen and guide you.

Alice was a refugee. Her journey began when she was just a child, getting ready to go on an exciting trip – or so she thought. Her whole family was there: her mum and dad, two brothers and her sister. She remembered it was dark and very quiet, with the sea huge and daunting. Alice was only 12 years old when her family had to leave their home in Saigon (now known as Ho Chi Minh City) in Vietnam, for a new life in Australia.

Alice and her family were one of the many Chinese-Vietnamese refugees resettled in Australia in the late 1970s.

She has come a long way since leaving Vietnam in search for freedom. When her family first reached Australia, they were immediately put into Pennington Hostel for refugees in South Australia where they stayed for two months.

At the time, there were lots of Chinese migrants working in restaurants as kitchen-hands or waiters and waitresses. It was a huge change for her family, especially for her father who was a businessman back in Vietnam. He had to work as a cook in a Chinese restaurant and eventually injured himself through years of straining his arms.

Like most migrant families, Alice’s mother also had to work in order to provide for their family. Alice’s father went from being the sole breadwinner to becoming very depressed because he felt like he was not doing enough.

He never addressed this, though.

“I think some sort of social support or even counselling would help a great deal especially for people like us. People tend to think everyone else is fine because no one talks about it. But when you have these issues, you should go to talk to someone, like going to talk to a friend or a professional,” Alice said.

“They see it as a weakness.”

Alice’s thoughts ring true for many Asian migrants coping in a new country. When Alice and her family were initially settled into the community, they received some help with finding a place to live, finding work and enrolling into school. But none of the social services at the time dealt with their mental health.

“My parents had a huge lack of understanding of what mental health is. They picture someone in a strait jacket or someone having severe schizophrenia and we feel like it is embarrassing or shameful to seek help but we should try to normalise this especially for people like my dad.”

Alice not only had to deal with family problems at home, she was also bullied at school for not knowing how to speak English. She attended a high school where she was only one of two Chinese students and the only one with a refugee background. Even though she had school and was working at the Chinese restaurant with her parents at night, Alice practiced her English every day until she could speak the language right.

It took Alice a long time to figure out which career path she wanted. With her soft voice and understanding nature, it is hard for me to imagine Alice as anything but a counsellor for young adults, but she told me of her struggles to the right path for her.

Armed with her hospitality experience and interest in science, Alice completed her first degree: a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Organic Chemistry and Microbiology. She did some sales training at an insurance company, but the only person she managed to sell insurance to was her own mother. For her, this was a stepping stone to get into pharmaceuticals but she also faced challenges there.

“I cried every Sunday because of the week ahead, I was so miserable with that job. I respected doctors too much to think I knew enough to sell them anything and getting past the receptionist was very hard because they were very mean to sales people.”

Alice wanted to change her career path so her friends told her to look into the marketing side for pharmaceuticals instead. Eventually she landed a marketing job where she worked for 20 years but one day it hit her that she did not want to be doing this for another 20 years.

“I realised what I liked doing was listening to other people’s stories and I thought about it – what job is that? I went to a career expo with a friend and there were many organisations advertising for mentoring and counselling banners. I thought, well that’s interesting and I found out I could do a Diploma of Counselling online.”

It took Alice seven years to complete her Diploma but during this time, she had discovered that she truly enjoyed working with young people after some volunteer experience at Raise, the Youth Mentoring Foundation.

“There is a big difference in wages but I had support from my husband so I committed to that area and then I had to build up my credentials and experience. Through Raise, I was able to volunteer at KYDS [Kids Youth Development Service] and I’ve been volunteering here for a year and a half, and now I have a job here.”

Alice hopes to work for a mental health organisation with a focus on adolescents and family mental health. She has realised that her different cultural background, as well as the training and communication skills from her sales job, have definitely helped her gain perspective on her clients.

“Because of my background, I definitely see kids experiencing the same challenges that I did. I had the Chinese side of me that really wanted to please my parents and I had my Aussie side with my friends. For young people, the majority of their friends have different values to their families but they cannot please everyone. They feel like they are letting their parents down,” she recalled.

Many Asian parents have a narrow view of success which essentially is getting good grades and then getting a good job that makes money. From many parents’ point of view this is because they may have lived a life of struggles where they were not given opportunities to gain an education or pursue jobs that looked after you. From their point of view, this success equates with happiness.

“They don’t understand that here in Australia, there are different types of success… If you don’t go to uni now, you can do it later. Aussies can do anything at any time of their lives.”

Alice didn’t know this but when she was talking about her experiences, I felt like she was mentoring me. I am a final year uni student without a clue about where I will end up after graduation. But speaking to Alice made me feel like it’s okay that I don’t have my life figured out yet and wherever I end up will be a stepping stone for me.

Alice said she was grateful to be given opportunities here in Australia and she plans to complete her Master of Social Work and Counselling. I wish her all the best in her studies and I have no doubt that she has so much to contribute to the Australian community.

Cindee Duong

An Update of Research into Anxiety

Summary of the paper: Anxiety Disorders, by Michelle G. Craske, Murray B. Stein, Thalia C. Eley, Mohammed R. Milad, Andrew Holmes, Ronald M. Rapee, and Hans-Ulrich Wittchen; (in press; 2017) Nature Reviews Disease Primers.

Precis by Ronald M Rapee, Centre for Emotional Health, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University.

In late 2016, several international researchers, who specialise in different aspects of anxiety disorders, were asked to prepare an update and overview of what we currently know about anxiety disorders for a major scientific journal – Nature Reviews Disease Primers. This update is highly technical and is aimed at scientists, therapists, and students. In the following article, I will provide a short summary of the key points from this paper, hopefully in a way that is more accessible to everyone. I won’t try and cover everything in the original review, but will focus on areas that I think will be of most interest to readers. Anyone who wants to read the original is encouraged to do so.

Introduction

The paper begins by pointing out that anxiety disorders include the largest group of mental disorders, are a serious source of disability, and cost our society a great deal (one study estimated that in 2010, approximately 60 million Europeans experienced anxiety disorders leading to a cost of over 74 billion Euros).

The key features of anxiety include excessive and persistent fears along with extensive avoidance. Anxiety disorders often begin in childhood or adolescence and are typically long-lasting – without treatment, they can last for much of a person’s lifetime.

Importantly, anxiety is a normal emotion that varies in degree. Similarly, anxiety disorders can vary from mild to severe. In other words, people with anxiety disorders don’t “catch” some sort of “sickness” – rather, they differ from people without anxiety disorders simply in the extent or degree of their anxiousness and in the impact this has on their life. There is no simple cut-off point.

Statistics

The World Mental Health Survey is a large survey that measured the experience of a wide range of mental disorders from countries right across the world. They found that the chances of a person having an anxiety disorder at some point in their life ranged from 5% (China) to 31% (USA) with an average of 25%. In other words, on average, one person in four, will experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their life. Within a one-year period, an average of 12% of the world’s population has a diagnosable anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders typically start early in life and most people who are going to experience an anxiety disorder in their life, will already have one by their early adulthood. Like the other anxiety disorders, generalised anxiety disorder also often begins in childhood or adolescence, but it can start for the first time in adulthood or even older adulthood.

Some features increase the chances of people experiencing anxiety disorders. Females are approximately twice as likely as males to have an anxiety disorder. People who have a parent with an anxiety disorder are approximately 2-4 times more likely to also have one themselves. Experiencing stressful life events can increase the chances of having a later anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders are also more likely among people who were very shy and withdrawn in their early years, or who had a parent who was quite overprotective or negative.

People who have anxiety disorders, especially in their early years, are more likely to experience later depression and substance use problems.

Brain systems

The paper provided an overview of some of the latest understanding of the parts of the brain that underpin anxiety and fear and how these circuits work. I won’t try and summarise that here. However, a few interesting points can be summarised.

There have been some great advances in starting to identify some of the parts of the brain that are involved in experiencing fear and anxiety. One of the most widely discussed is called the amygdala, two areas deep in the brain that seems to be involved in learning about fear, danger, and safety and in helping to form fear memories. People with anxiety disorders seem to have a more reactive amygdala. More recent research is starting to identify important areas right across the brain that are involved in different aspects related to anxiety. One of the important findings is that these brain areas don’t seem to follow specific anxiety disorders. In other words, there isn’t a social anxiety part of the brain, and a separation anxiety part of the brain, and so on. This implies that the way that we talk about anxiety disorders in clinical practice, is not the way they are represented in the brain, and in the future, we will need to develop better ways of conceptualising these disorders.

Genes

One area where we have made huge advances in recent years is how our genes influence a range of issues and diseases. There is now no doubt that anxiety disorders are largely genetically affected. It seems that around 30-40% of the extent to which people vary in anxiety is genetic. The particular genes that are involved have not yet been identified and there are likely to be many, many of these.

One thing that is clear is that if genes affect up to 40% of the extent to which a person is anxious, then the environment must also be very important (up to 60%).

Current research is looking at ways in which genes and environments might work together. For example, a child who is genetically very shy and sensitive, might become a target for bullies. In turn, being bullied (part of the environment) might increase his/her anxiety.

Prevention

In more recent years, scientists have started to think that it might be possible to prevent people from developing problems with anxiety before they happen. There have been some real advances here – although we are still a long way from being able to properly prevent this problem.

One type of prevention has focused on teaching practical skills (such as problem-solving) to all of the children in a school year or even across a school. These programs are often delivered by the school teachers. Effects have been small, but nonetheless, these programs have started to show some real reduction in both anxiety and depression up to one year later.

Another form of prevention has tried to identify those children who might be at higher risk for later anxiety (and depression). As we mentioned above, two risk factors include having a shy, withdrawn temperament or having overprotective or negative interactions with parents. Very little research has been aimed at this form of prevention, but some results are very promising. In one of the biggest studies, teaching practical skills to the parents of very shy pre-school children, led to fewer anxiety and depression disorders 11 years later (when those children reached their middle teens).

A third type of prevention has focused on selecting those people (usually school-age) who are already showing some signs of anxiety. These studies are usually run in schools and use questionnaires to identify young people who have high(ish) anxiety, but not necessarily an anxiety disorder. These studies have shown some of the biggest effects that last up to one year later, but again, overall effects are not large.

Treatment

Treatments for anxiety have not changed dramatically in many years. But research continues to refine the treatments and to show which ones work. We now have a lot of evidence that cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) works very well for people with anxiety disorders at all ages (younger, adult, older adult). Following CBT around 50% of people with anxiety disorders reduce their symptoms to the level of the general population. Of course, even among the remaining 50%, many of them show very good improvements. Other forms of psychological treatment have not been shown to work as well. This doesn’t mean they won’t work for some individuals but, either we don’t yet have the evidence, or their effects in general seem smaller.

Medications for anxiety have also been widely tested and show good results. The most widely studied are the antidepressants, especially those referred to as SSRIs. These medications work well for anxiety and their effects are roughly similar to CBT. Other medications also work, especially one group referred to as benzodiazepines (one example is Valium). However, because they have a higher risk for abuse, they are usually recommended as a second choice.

Ending

The paper finished with a detailed look at some of the newer and more experimental areas that are being explored for anxiety disorders. There are new and exciting possibilities in understanding the mechanisms and causes of anxiety, in the prevention of anxiety, and in its treatment. At this stage few of these directions has yet built up enough evidence to use them in any meaningful way or to recommend them to the public. The main exception is the use of distance therapies – that is, CBT that is run over the internet, via telephone, or through apps. These methods of distributing treatment are starting to be very well tested and they seem to show effects that are as good, or almost as good, as CBT in a therapist’s office. Their two biggest advantages are 1) they can be delivered to people anywhere (including rural and remote parts of Australia), and 2) they usually require less time from a therapist making them cheaper and easier to use within our public health systems.

Original Article on Understanding Anxiety site

The Chatswood Mental Health Expo – A Volunteer’s Perspective

In April, WayAhead, in partnership with Willoughby City Council and Australian Chinese Psychological Association, held a Mental Health Expo in Chatswood that targeted the Chinese community for the first time. I was looking forward to volunteering on the day because even though I am Chinese-Australian, to participate in a conversation about mental health with the Chinese community was completely foreign to me.

Breaking into the Chinese community was difficult at first, not only because of the cultural and language barriers, but also largely due to the stigma and their preconceived ideas surrounding mental health. Many members of the Chinese community hold a very negative view of mental health, where it is embarrassing or even shameful to experience. Often, there is a belief that very serious mental health disorders are the only mental health concern and as a result of this, mental health is rarely addressed or talked about.

Out of sight, out of mind.

Except we were right at in the heart of Chatswood Mall, handing out specially-translated flyers in Chinese so that we could communicate directly to the Chinese community.

I was very surprised with what I learnt from this experience and I would like to share this with you.

In my experience, Asian communities – especially Chinese speakers – are generally distrustful of strangers who are foreign to them. Many were intrigued by the Expo, enticed by the free food, even dazzled by the tai-chi performances and stilt walkers, but they still needed more encouragement to approach our stall and start a conversation about mental health. They were more reserved than your usual shoppers. Luckily, our team at WayAhead had many bilingual volunteers and by speaking in Chinese to passers-by, I found that they were much more at ease and even became curious about what we were doing.

Through our conversations, I found that most of the Chinese community were quite disconnected with their mental health. Most seemed to equate mental health with feelings of sadness or depression. One woman told me that she was 70 years old and very happy – therefore she didn’t need our services. But before she left, I quickly asked if she had any children or grandchildren who may be under a lot of pressure from their work or studies. Her tone drastically changed when we started to chat about her grandchildren who I learnt were under so much stress because they were studying for their HSC this year. As I handed her some information booklets in Chinese, I told her that at WayAhead, we want to raise awareness and start conversations about mental health with the Chinese community because we all want our family and loved ones to be safe and healthy.

Cindee with the Kyds stall at the Mental Health Expo

My biggest find was that while many Chinese people from the older generation did not understand mental health, they did have family members who may have been diagnosed with anxiety or depression, or had seen that their family were under a lot of stress and wanted to learn more about it to help themselves help their family. This became a recurring conversation; I would ask about their family members and they would suddenly realise that they would benefit from this information – maybe not for themselves but for their family.

I was pleasantly surprised because I had expected the older generation to almost completely reject the idea of mental health issues (although this was also a common response). From personal experience, it is common that mental health issues within family circles tend to stay within family circles – almost a taboo to speak about to other people, as though it was something to be ashamed about. One of the reasons we held this Mental Health Expo was to normalise the conversation of poor mental health and create an open space where people from the Chinese community could engage and ask questions.

I am very pleased that WayAhead organised this event in Chatswood and was able to open up dialogue within the Chinese community to talk about such taboos.

By Cindee Duong

Link to Mental Health Expo Page

Behind the Photographer’s Lens

Photographer – Jennifer Blau

 

Last month, documentary photographer, Jennifer Blau, exhibited her portraits of people who had had an eating disorder in the series Just ask me how I feel, created in partnership with WayAhead. The portraits were shown at Manly Library as part of the international Head On photo exhibition that runs in Sydney every year.

Since we worked with Jennifer on this project as well as a video installation for Parramatta Library on eating disorders for Mental Health Month 2016, we thought it would be fascinating to get to know what makes the person behind the lens tick.

What made you want to work with WayAhead to create your portrait exhibition Just Ask Me How I Feel?

There were a couple of reasons…

Although no one in my family has experienced an eating disorder I have close friends whose children have been, and the effect can be devastating. So, at the very least, I hoped that this work might help someone.

It had also been a while since my last documentary portrait series because I’ve been doing a Masters in Art Therapy the last couple of years. I’d been wanting to re-engage with photography and work on a new portrait project and when Matthew Keighery at WayAhead suggested this to me, it seemed to dovetail my interests in photography and therapy.  Within art therapy I’ve been learning about eating disorders.

One of the things I enjoy about portrait photography is the connection with my subject. It can be a privilege to be allowed into someone else’s world. People often feel quite vulnerable as they reveal themselves before the camera. So, in a similar way to establishing a safe place for a client in therapy, I aim to be sensitive to their needs for them to feel safe in my presence. The best portraits, I believe, always show some emotion in the subject and so this connection with subject is vital. For this series, I also asked the subjects to try to convey to me what they felt in their body when they experienced the feelings associated with the eating disorder.

You’ve photographed people who are often overlooked or underestimated by society, like women over 50, teenagers, people experiencing homeless and now those affected by eating disorders. What draws you to these subjects?

I’ve been interested in exploring ideas about identity, how people portray and perceive themselves. My work on teenager’s bedrooms was about how the bedrooms reflected the important and growing need for self expression and quest for identity – despite their parents’ obsession with the mess. With the women over 50, in my book The 50 Book: Women Celebrate Life, I explored the change of identity that occurs as women age, youth and beauty fade and significant roles, such as being nurturing mothers, subside. Women at this age can begin to feel worthless and invisible (or, conversely, liberated). I’m interested in transitions in life but also I think it’s important to show that what someone is currently experiencing does not necessarily define them, that there is a person underneath the label, whether you’re  a defiant teenager, an empty nester, homeless or anorexic and everyone has similar emotions.  I think that being photographed can help those who may feel misunderstood, undervalued or invisible feel acknowledged and validated. This has certainly been the case with people experiencing homelessness who I’ve photographed with Sydney Homeless Connect for the last six years (this work was exhibited at the State Library of NSW in 2013). It is always a wonderful experience to see the pleasure they receive in seeing themselves presented in a positive light, often in new clothes and a new haircut provided by other volunteers. We all like to have a good photograph of ourself as it boosts our self image but when going through difficult times it is even more important to counter negative feelings. Another area I’m also interested in further exploring is whether portrait photography might help people with body dimorphic disorders reconcile how they perceive their bodies.

What role do you think photography plays in broader conversations about social issues here in Australia?

As a documentary photographer (I did a masters in documentary photography at Sydney College of the Arts a few years ago) I am interested in people and their stories and the powerful way in which one still image remains tangible (as opposed to video images which are fleeting), can communicate so much, touch people emotionally, raise awareness and open a dialogue about important social issues related to marginalisation, diversity, inequality, including of course the stigma of mental illness.  Platforms such as the Head On Photo Festival are fantastic as they allow so many important issues to be canvassed photographically and ever-increasing numbers of the public attend their exhibitions. As an example, Manly Library had 30,000 people viewJust Ask Me How I Feel so the marriage of the festival and community audience has enormous potential for creating awareness.  Head On is now a significant international photo festival and attracts contributors from all over the world. Sadly, documentary photography is increasingly undervalued in the mainstream media especially with recent cutbacks in print journalism and to the work of photojournalists and so photographers need to find alternative ways of communicating.

You have a really interesting background, with an undergraduate degree in media and psychology, as well as experience working in publishing for children. How do these inform your photography work?

Yes, I started life studying both psychology and media but despite an ongoing interest, deviated from the psychology path until recently. I worked in TV, radio and then book publishing for 25 years firstly as a photo editor and picture researcher and later as a senior editor in illustrated books working in both adult non-fiction and children’s books. I’ve been lucky to have spent most of my working life looking at some of the world’s best images – both photographic and illustrative on all sorts of subjects – and incorporating them as a counterpart to the text in books I’ve worked on. So visual communication has always been important to me and the interplay between words and image has informed my work in books, my photographic work which is often supported by my subject’s words, and interestingly now my work in art therapy where nonverbal expression also works in tandem with talking therapy.

For you, what is the value in art therapy and what made you decide to pursue further study in it?

I have always had a yearning to pursue both counselling and photography and when I first heard of art therapy it seemed to combine both interests. Art therapy is a way of accessing unconscious material working creatively with the imagination. Lots of photographers (and other artists) pursue personal psychological themes in their work so I was curious to know how/whether photography might be incorporated into therapy. It can be used as therapeutic photography as a kind of self-help or can be used as a vehicle for expression and discussion with a therapist. So I am hoping to explore art therapy with a focus on using photography as a medium because photography is so accessible and ubiquitous. I’ve begun doing this with drug and alcohol rehab clients in my clinical placement.

What are you working on next and where can we see some of your other work if we missed the exhibition at Manly Library?

I’m not sure what is next for me but am committed to continuing with documentary photography and hopefully marrying this with my interests in mental health. Some of my work can be seen on my website jenniferblau.com and also in my book The 50 Book: Women Celebrate Life at the50book.com

By Tasnim Hossain

Talking about it: Celebrities opening up about mental health

Recently, several celebrities have opened up about their personal journey living with a mental health condition.

One of the most high-profile of these was musician Lady Gaga’s recorded FaceTime conversation with Prince William. The pair discussed the open letter Lady Gaga penned about what her life has been like, living with a mental health condition.

“There’s a lot of shame attached to mental illness, you feel like something is wrong with you and in my life, I go ‘oh my goodness, look at all of these beautiful, wonderful things that I have.’ And I should be so happy but you can’t help it if in the morning when you wake up, you are so tired, you are so sad, you are so full of anxiety and the shakes that you can barely think — but it was like saying ‘this is a part of me and that’s OK,” she said.

Prince William, along with his wife, Catherine, and Prince Harry, have started their own mental health promotion organisation, Heads Together. They created the organisation after identifying the prevalence of underlying mental health issues through their charity work and how it negatively affected people’s lives if it went untreated.

Heads Together Campaign

Prince Harry also recently made headlines when he opened up about his own struggle with his mental health resulting from never properly dealing with the grief he felt after his mother’s death, Princess Diana.

“I can safely say that losing my mum at the age of 12, and therefore shutting down all of my emotions for the last 20 years, has had a quite serious effect on not only my personal life but my work as well,” he said.

“I have probably been very close to a complete breakdown on numerous occasions when all sorts of grief and sort of lies and misconceptions and everything are coming to you from every angle,” Prince Harry said in an interview with the UK press.

Since seeking help, Prince Harry has been able to come to terms with the anger and grief he felt over Princess Diana’s death and now works with Heads Together to help break down the stigma which is still sometimes associated with mental health.

In Australia, AFL Sydney Swans player, Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin, went public towards the end of 2015 when it became apparent he needed to take time out from the AFL finals series to start treatment options to gain control of his mental health. It was one of the most public personal stories of an Australian sports star’s mental health issues.

The response was overwhelmingly positive, with fans from across AFL teams, sporting codes and the wider community showing their support for Buddy’s mental health journey on social media and the more traditional press.

However, it wasn’t all positive; his partner, the model Jesinta Campbell, told Fairfax media at the time of Buddy’s return, “There have been some people in the media that have just said some really incredibly nasty and hurtful things that are just so left of field and so wrong in this day and age.”

Buddy returned to AFL during the 2016 season and was warmly welcomed back to the AFL family. Since returning to the field, Buddy has been shown a willingness to speak openly about his journey and lend his voice to encourage people who find themselves in a similar position to seek help, when they think they need to.

Since Lady Gaga and Buddy Franklin shared their experience, it has helped others feel comfortable sharing their experience living with a mental health condition, as shown by the comments made on social media.

Since its launch, Heads Together has used its public profile to get mental health into the mainstream media. Most recently Prince William sat down with British GQ to talk about the work of Heads Together, the stigma still faced by some people living with a mental health condition.

Sources

Lance Franklin article The Age

Heads Together

Prince Harry article UK Telegraph

Prince William article GQ Magazine

By Benjamin Graham

WayAhead Workplaces Annual Forum 2017

Everyone in the workforce can think of a story either positive or negative where their place of work has had an impact on them. The kind of place where we work, socialise and spend a significant portion of our lives plays a huge role in our overall wellbeing. Workplaces are increasingly recognising this and turning their attention to what they can do to support their employees.

A multifaceted approach is key to improving wellbeing in the workplace, said representatives of the Commonwealth Bank and Optus, as well as leading academics at the WayAhead Workplaces Annual Members Forum. In fact it was central to the theme of the day “An Integrated Workplace Mental Health Approach: The Way Forward”. While network members meet throughout the year, the Annual Members Forum is a full day of exploring the latest in mental health and wellbeing in the workplace. Sharon Leadbetter, WayAhead Workplaces Co-ordinator, welcomes network members to the Forum to share learnings, connect with each other and further mental health and wellbeing in the workplace. This year, there were 99 attendees representing 54 organisations from around Australia.

Alice Klontzaris, of Commonwealth Bank Australia, with Rachel Clements, of the Centre for Corporate Health, spoke about measures that the Commonwealth Bank had put in place over the last few years to best support employee wellbeing. Starting from a single approach, they built up a suite of different mechanisms and programs to support employees across a large and geographically dispersed workforce.  They identified the importance of leadership commitment in positioning employees’ mental health as a vital business imperative. With around 55,000 employees across more than 1300 workplaces in Australia, and more overseas, Commonwealth Bank identified the need to have a multifaceted approach to reach their employees, wherever they were. “When employees are reaching out to you to share their mental health journey, that’s what you want,” they said, “that’s where we are today.”

Geoff Hoad, of Optus, also spoke about the importance of considering a multiplicity of interventions. With a range of different employees in a range of different environments, from engineers in the field, to salespeople in storefronts to the varied positions in the head office, he said he saw such an approach as “covering all bases” rather than a scattergun approach. He also spoke about the fact that that work-life balance no longer exists because with new technology, such as smartphones, that distinction is meaningless. Organisations have responsibilities for their employees, regardless of the cause of ill mental health. “You’re not going to be able say ‘this is a workplace injury, that is not. So we’re not going to treat the other one.’ That person is part of your workforce,” he said.

These insights into improving wellbeing were borne out by a team of researchers, including Dr Angela Martin, of Pracademia and Adjunct Professor at the University of Tasmania, who presented the findings of a paper on developing integrated approaches to mental health in the workplace. Dr Martin emphasised the importance of an interconnected, three-pronged approach: preventing harm, promoting the positive, and managing illness. She encouraged workplaces, whether large or small, to do what they could in each of these three areas, even if it was just one thing in each category.

The practical elements involved in improving mental health and wellbeing in the workplace were emphasised throughout the day. SuperFriend, a national mental health promotion charity, provided copies of a resource  they had developed, outlining practical actions that employers and organisations can take to support employees. Deborah Kennedy, of SuperFriend, also spoke about the importance of safe, secure and supportive environments to allow employees to thrive.

“Workers don’t have to be unwell or mentally distressed – or even officially mentally ill – for us to be doing something about it. Why are we waiting for bad things to happen?” said Sharon Leadbetter. “Why don’t we just get in there and help people by arming them with information and support to create happy, healthy and safe workplaces? Because the benefits are beyond this just being a good thing to do.”

Better awareness of mental health and support for wellbeing in the workplace is steadily increasing. Nonetheless it is an area where all organisations, no matter how large or small, can do more to support their employees. As Deborah Kennedy said, “it’s about all of us. About how we feel when we go home at the end of the day.”

To learn more about the program, head to the WayAhead Workplaces website.

CORPORATE HEALTH PROVIDER EXHIBITORS
  • Aon Hewitt
  • Black Dog Institute
  • Mad for Health
  • Uprise
  • SafeWork NSW
SPONSORS OF THE EVENT
  • SuperFriend
  • Optus (member)
  • Springday (member)
  • Endeavour Wellness (member)
  • Davidson Trahaire Corpsych (member)

 

 

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