Breaking the Stigma: Normalizing Mental Health Conversations

Talent Report+THRIVE

Description: In this episode, we explore how to break down the stigma surrounding mental health conversations in the workplace. Mental health is a critical aspect of overall well-being, but the topic can still be challenging to discuss. This episode provides actionable strategies for managers and employees to encourage open and honest conversations about mental health.

We speak with industry expert and thought leader, Cheryl Lucas-DeBerry who shares her experiences and insights on how to normalize mental health conversations. We discuss the importance of education and awareness, destigmatizing common mental health conditions, and how to build a culture of support and empathy in the workplace.

Join us as we explore the benefits of normalizing mental health conversations in the workplace, including increased productivity, employee satisfaction, and overall well-being. We hope this episode inspires you to start a conversation about mental health in your workplace and helps you to create a more supportive and compassionate environment.

Resources:

Mental Health Awareness

MRA Membership

About MRA

Let's Connect:

Guest Bio - Cheryl Lucas-DeBerry

Guest LinkedIn Profile - Cheryl Lucas-DeBerry

Host Bio - Sophie Boler

Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler

Transcript:

Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word.

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Hello everybody and welcome to 30 minute Thrive,

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your go to podcast for anything and everything HR.

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powered by MRA, the Management Association.

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Looking to stay on top of the ever changing world of HR?

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MRA has got you covered.

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We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not.

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I'm your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you're here.

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Now it's time to thrive.

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Hello and welcome to episode number 36 of 30 minute Thrive.

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We're glad you're here, and I'm happy to introduce to you our guest for today.

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And that's Cheryl Lucas-DBerry, and very Cheryl

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is one of our learning and development instructors here at MRA and comes

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with a really strong background with over 30 years of professional experience.

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And currently, Cheryl, you are in the process of getting your degree and

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will be getting licensed and counseling, which is great.

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Yes, Congrats on that.

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Thank you.

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But May is Mental Health Awareness Month.

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So we're really kicking off the month

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with a mental health in the Workplace episode.

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So according to Mental Health America, 21% of adults are experiencing

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a mental illness, and that's equivalent to over 50 million Americans,

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which means a lot of these individuals are bringing that into the workplace, too.

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So what are some of the most common mental

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health conditions that employees may be dealing with?

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And how can we ensure that they feel supported?

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Yeah, Now that's a really good question.

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Mental health is really becoming very prevalent

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and much more known and talked about in the workplace.

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But according to the research, the main ones that people are dealing

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with are depression, anxiety and PTSD, post traumatic stress disorder.

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And that really comes from individuals having to deal

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with violence in the workplace.

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Oh, interesting.

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Hello.

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Well, we recently talked to Kristi Haase on employee engagement.

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So how can you identify whether an employer is disengaged

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or if it's mental health related? Hmm.

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Yeah, I think really, it's kind of paying attention

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to the individual, paying attention to their behavior

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and really looking at the kind of the baseline

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is this behavior something totally different

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than how they have been in the past or is it about the same?

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So when you look at that as a baseline, then you can start to determine

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if there is something else

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that may be going on with this individual, because it's not health,

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not the typical type of behavior that they would exhibit.

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Yeah, I feel like as a manager, that would be kind of difficult to determine.

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Like if your employee isn't as active in the workplace

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or if they are not as engaged like how you can tell if it's

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a personal thing or a mental health thing or they're just disengaged.

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But kind of

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going off of that, how can employers and managers create that culture

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of support and empathy when it comes to these mental health conversations?

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It really is about having those conversations,

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kind of paying attention, asking questions.

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Is this you know, is there something going on and how are you?

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How are you doing today?

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That's a good question.

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How are you doing today?

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And then kind of basing

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their response, basing your response on their response.

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So how do you deal with that?

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And then just being open and saying, I'm here.

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If you want to share something, if you want to talk to someone.

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That's fine, too.

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But just letting them know that that I'm here for you

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and showing that that empathy has the most attached.

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People just need to know. Know that someone care.

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Yeah. I like how you said.

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Then how are you doing today?

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Oh, yeah.

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So how does work life balance also play a role in immense

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stress and burnout?

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It are some things that cause our employees

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to have, you know, depression and anxiety.

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So really organizations just paying attention

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to what do we need to do to create some activities

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even for folks working remotely?

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What are some things that we can do to incorporate into the company culture

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of ensuring that people understand that it's okay to take your vacation time?

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You do need to get up and do stretch breaks.

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You do need to take time for yourself, even if you're working out of your home

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at some point making a determination that I am stopping at this time.

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And separating yourself from that because it's quite easy.

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If your office is down the hall,

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it's quite easy to continue to to work.

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But at some point you end up burning out and then that creates

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less productivity and all kinds of things.

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And then that ultimately affects the individual's

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home life, family life,

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personal lives, all those things, how they interact

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with their manager, how they interact with their coworkers in them.

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Yeah, no, that's great advice. I know

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some of my friends actually have an alarm set

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at like lunchtime where it's like I'm taking my 10 to 20 minute walk right now.

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I'll take a nap or something like that.

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That's great.

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Yeah.

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But you mentioned that mental health is

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being talked about a little bit

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more nowadays and more of an open topic.

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But why do you think mental health

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has been stigmatized in the workplace and what do you think we can do?

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The kind of change that, you know, I think it's been stigmatized

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for so long just because of lack of understanding.

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It was oftentimes

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thought of as, you know, hiding Uncle Joe in the closet or

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that's just, you know, and Agnes investors, how she is.

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But now it's becoming much, much more talked about.

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And often it's not the hush hush as it used to be.

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And so just having people understand

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that mental health is a real thing and organizations understanding

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that mental health is a real thing and what can we do

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to kind of incorporate that into the organizational culture,

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not just let it be a flavor of the day, if you will?

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One of the ways that organization can address the stigma

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around mental illness is really to have those open conversations.

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According to the one HR article I was reading, is that open conversations

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about mental health really help break that taboo

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that often kind of characterized as that particular topic.

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So a culture, instead of promoting a culture

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that is rather hush hush, it really is

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just kind of bringing it out in the open

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that employees feel comfortable talking about it,

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Senior leadership feels comfortable in talking about it,

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and just having people feel like it's okay.

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And using that term.

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Mental health issues is also important.

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And then the mental health can then be spun

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into really focusing on their emotional well-being.

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So organizations can help employees

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move into kind of this safe space

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by having those open discussions around the subject of mental health.

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You want to encourage employees and managers really

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to be open about using the term mental health, and it can be incorporated

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into the company's newsletters to their social media sites

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and then just meeting agendas

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that they can use within the organization, just incorporating

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really into the day to day conversations really help

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further reassure employees that the company

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is acknowledging the importance of mental health in the workplace.

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Yeah, that's great.

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So I think mental health is becoming less stigmatized now

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because of people's attitudes toward it.

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And also they have seen more famous people that have come out to talk

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about their own mental health illness or just talking about mental health

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and particularly so because it is kind of come

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from under the covers, if you will, and more famous

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people are talking about it, then it is becoming less taboo

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in the workplace and organizations are feeling more comfortable

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in having their employees talk about it as well and incorporate it

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into their entire organizational culture.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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And how could we promote mental health

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awareness and education in the workplace?

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You know, it's interesting.

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Something that I read it said, promote

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emotional well-being versus physical well-being.

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And so many organizations will have, you know,

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opportunities for employees to participate in some kind of physical wellbeing,

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which, you know, challenges water challenges, walking challenges,

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things like that, but also incorporating some emotional well-being.

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What does that mean?

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Is this being able to take a step back from work to do something or fine,

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It might be doing some fun activities with the coworkers or,

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you know, even working remotely, creating those scavenger hunts or

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just creating some fun in the workplace.

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So that helps with that emotional well-being and reducing stress.

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And when stress is reduced, then our mental health is not as prevalent.

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No, I love that.

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I think that's a great idea to promote both physical and emotional. Yes.

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So what role can employer resource groups or other affinity groups

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play in creating a more supportive environment as well?

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Yeah, with employee resource groups, they are usually a smaller group

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and so people may feel more comfortable in sharing with each other,

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but just creating that space where people will feel comfortable in sharing and

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peer listening groups

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is can be incorporated into the employee resource groups.

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Just that listening that I'm I'm here for you again.

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Most of the times people just want to know that somebody

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hears them and they can feel comfortable in share.

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And in the smaller network of friends, the employee research

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groups are usually individuals that share the same kind of,

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you know, affinity towards a particular topic.

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And so creating those peer listening groups related to mental health,

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because research shows that that vast majority of people have been impacted

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by mental health, whether personally or through a family member or friend.

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Oh, absolutely.

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I believe I think a lot of people might not talk about mental health, too,

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because they're embarrassed or they feel like they're alone.

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So those groups

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definitely are very helpful, like you said.

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But as we kind of close out here,

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your training or your learning development instructors, I have to ask what

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what resources or trainings you would recommend or that are available

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to employers who may be struggling with their mental health?

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And how can we kind of make sure that they're aware of these resources?

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Yeah, I think some training, which is utilizing

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certainly utilizing your employee assistance program,

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creating some stress reduction types

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of activities within the workplace.

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Also just having

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senior leadership talk about

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the mental health and how important that is

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and then that is incorporated into the overall culture

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because individuals want to feel like they can bring their whole selves

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to the workplace and if they can't, then they tend to leave.

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If they don't feel like the organization culture supports

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mental health and with mental well-being

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or emotional well-being, then they will find other opportunities.

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So a way to have organizations do

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that is to offer some training around

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mental health, mental wellbeing, and just

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ways that people

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can find a way to unplug, if you will.

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What are some things that we can do as an individual?

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What are some things we can do as a group and that organizations will provide

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for the employee at no cost to them or minimal cost to them?

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Mm hmm.

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Well, that's a great way to and and of themselves.

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And good advice to anyone.

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So thank you for being on 30 minute Thrive today, sharing all of that

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advice and knowledge and expertise on mental health in the workplace.

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Definitely a topic that's important and something

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that it's never going to go away.

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So no, it's not.

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And Mental Health Month is a good kickoff for that,

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but it should be incorporated throughout the entire organizational culture.

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So it doesn't come across as just being another flavor of the day

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that it is part of the overall culture of the organization.

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Absolutely.

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Well, to our listeners, if you liked our chat and topic today,

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I'd encourage you to share this episode and leave a good review.

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Leave a comment and consider joining MRA if you aren't a member already.

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We do have all the resources below in the show notes, including Cheryl's

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bio and LinkedIn, if you'd like to get in contact with her.

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Otherwise, thank you so much for tuning in today.

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Thank you again, Cheryl.

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Thank you. And we will see you next week.

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And that wraps up our content for this episode.

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Be sure to reference the show notes

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where you can sign up to connect for more podcast updates.

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Check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform.

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Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry

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on the HR conversation.