“Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, and is a major contributor to the overall global burden of disease.” WHO (World Health Organisation – see the webpage for facts)
Approximately 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year.
In England, 1 in 6 people report experiencing a common mental health problem (such as anxiety and depression) in any given week
The number of working days lost to stress, depression and anxiety in the UK rose by 24 per cent between 2009 and 2013, while the number of days lost to serious mental illness roughly doubled.
Analysts reckon that this sickness absence costs £8.4 billion each year, plus another £15.1 billion in reduced productivity. A further £2.4 billion is lost replacing staff that leave work because of mental ill-health. Overall, recent estimates put the cost to UK employers at £30 billion each year.
“60-70% of people with common mental disorders are in work, it is crucial that those people are helped to keep working, to benefit their own health as well as businesses and the economy….”
31% of GP’s sick notes are for mental health difficulties
Medication is the most common type of treatment prescribed….
Medication can be useful for sure, but for continuing mental health difficulties, many many people recognise that medication is the equivalent of a sticking plaster. It can hold things together and give some space for things to come around (and if that works just fine then great!) but if a wound is not going to heal thoroughly enough by just being left to ‘sort itself’, then a more effective intervention is required.
Just like if you had a broken leg. In my view, mental health medication can be seen as equivalent to pain medication. With a slight fracture, you may be able to take care, take some pain killers and it will heal. With a more severe break or stress fracture, you can hope and wish and take pain relief but unless you reset the bone underneath then problems can linger and perpetuate.
Set the bone well in the first place…. Everything following on from that is a cleaner and more straightforward process with much much less delay and difficulty. This is the same with mental health. It’s just that existing health service resources and capabilities are not readily available enough to provide the assistance required on demand.
This is why, from working within the NHS and seeing it clear from the inside, I bring forward my services and support to provide as much assistance as I can to those who need access to it.
And let us not forget!…. Prevention is always better than cure. Education, talks and workshops are a valuable investment in workforce welfare and organisational health.
I can assist you and your business to grow and gain – brighter, more empowered, more motivated, more productive staff. If your staff had a stronger drive, were happier, came to work purpose focused as part of a fully capable, enthused well knit team how would that help?
My experience also allows me to work very successfully with individuals on a one-to-one basis, Face-to-Face or via phone or skype. It is possible to relieve and overcome issues which HR professionals, employee assistance programmes and even many GP referred mental health services may feel are unmanageable.
I have specific experience with, and can provide examples of, situations where it was very possible to achieve a genuine and complete solution for an individual’s mental and emotional position where all other approaches had failed.
