Mental Health Awareness

What is mental health awareness? 

Mental health awareness is the process of learning more about mental health. When your employees have a greater understanding of mental health, including the types of issues or concerns they may face, it can help them to identify potential problems in themselves and others.

There is still a stigma surrounding mental health, with many worried about discussing it with others - especially managers and colleagues. By receiving training, employees will understand that mental health doesn’t have to be a taboo subject. When in a position to talk more freely and discuss mental health, it allows employers to offer more help, and for employees to be comfortable enough to seek it.

When employees suffer with their mental health, it can impact their home and work life. Unfortunately, with many employees feeling under pressure or stressed in their role, their work can be a contributing factor towards issues with their mental health. So, as an employer, it’s important that you offer training to support your workforce.

How important is mental health awareness in the workplace?

The importance of mental health awareness cannot be understated. When employees suffer with their mental health it can have a huge impact on their lives - including in the workplace.

The most obvious impact is experienced by the employees themselves. Mental health issues - even seemingly minor ones - can have a devastating impact on an employee’s wellbeing. In turn, this will also impact your business in many ways, including:

• Decreased productivity
• A drop in the quality of service
• Increased absenteeism
• A greater level of turnover

Each of these will also lead to a loss of revenue and an increase in costs. Mental health awareness training for employees helps to increase their knowledge and reduce the stigma of talking about it. This will contribute towards improving the overall wellbeing of your employees and the success of your organization.

For more information check out our blog post on why mental health education in the workplace is important.

How to promote mental health awareness in the workplace

Providing training is one of the most effective ways of promoting mental health awareness in the workplace. As we’ve already covered, training helps break down barriers surrounding mental health so it becomes something that employees and employers are more comfortable discussing.

Other ways you can increase mental health awareness include:

• Introduce mental health days at work
• Encourage open and honest communication between managers and their teams, as well as the HR department
• Introduce a process so employees know who to speak to when they’re struggling with their mental health
• Promote a work-life balance
• Offer employees resources so they can build healthy habits into their routines

Which employees should learn about mental health awareness?

Employees can experience problems with their mental health regardless of their role or seniority, so all employees should learn more about mental health awareness. Even if an employee doesn’t have a history of mental health concerns, it doesn’t mean they’re immune - stressors and challenges can cause anyone issues at any time in their lives.

While all employees should learn more, managers and HR teams should seek to deepen their knowledge of mental health. This will help them to identify potential problems, offer support, and have a greater level of understanding and empathy.

Only when your entire workforce is knowledgeable on mental health awareness can the stigma be broken down.

What are the benefits of mental health awareness training?

Increasing mental health awareness at your organization has benefits for both your employees and your business. We’ve already mentioned how training helps to reduce the stigma involved, which will also help employees not feel discriminated against due to their mental health.

Training helps employees to feel valued. When employees feel valued there’s an increase in morale and job satisfaction, which leads to improved productivity and efficiency. This will also reduce absenteeism and turnover, saving your business unnecessary costs and preventing long and expensive recruitment processes.

This all contributes toward building a workplace culture that focuses on the mental health of your people. This can also help with recruitment as top industry talent will be attracted to work for a business that values employee wellbeing.

Can you learn about mental health awareness online?

eLearning courses are a great way for your employees to take mental health awareness training. Online courses are self-directed, which means they don’t add to an employee's workload. Instead, they can access course materials using any device as and when they have the time. Even with as little as 15 minutes per week, employees will be able to complete a 60-minute course in less than a month. eLearning is convenient, and interactive course materials mean a higher level of engagement and retention.

As online courses have already been produced they can be accessed instantly. They’re also affordable and can be scaled easily, meaning it’s simple to offer training to one employee or your entire workforce.

What are some of the best online courses for mental health awareness?

There is a wide range of courses available covering mental health awareness as a whole, as well as specific topics such as the destigmatization of mental health in the workplace. Some of the best online courses include:

• Reducing mental health stigma at work
• Mental Health Awareness
• Mental Health Awareness for Employees
• Mental Health Awareness for Managers
• Mental Health Awareness Training
• Mental Health Awareness Training for Education Professionals
• Managing Your Mental Health
• Talking about your mental health
• Mental Health vs Mental Illness
• Identify a Mental Health Struggle - Baseline Method
• The Mental Health Mentor
• Mental Health Continuum: Checking in with Yourself
• Mental Health: Destigmatizing
• Introduction to Mental Health
• Mental Health At Work
• Mental Health At Work - Overview

Train your team in mental health awareness with Go1

Providing your workforce with the knowledge they need to protect the mental health of themselves and their colleagues is important for the success of your organization. At Go1, we have a range of eLearning courses you can access right now to develop the mental health awareness of your employees. For more info on how Go1 can support your organization’s learning and development strategy, book a demo with our team today.