Make mental health first aid compulsory?

Published on

Employers are required to have trained physical first aiders in their workplaces. That's great. The problem is that for most work places the greatest risk, or the most likely problems to be encountered, are around mental health not physical health. Norman Lamb MP, a campaigner around mental health and a trained mental health first aider, has put down an early day motion in the House of Commons calling for this to be addressed. It would be a great way to address some of the disparity of treatment between physical and mental health, and chisel away at the ongoing stigma surrounding the latter.

We all have mental health, just as we all have physical health, and in both cases we are on a continuum, where our health can vary day to day. It is estimated that one in four people experience a mental health issue in any given year, and that one in six employees is depressed, anxious or suffering from stress-related problems at any time. However, many of us know little about mental health. We often don’t spot the signs that a colleague, employee, or we ourselves are struggling, and this delays help and recovery.

Related Articles

Sheryl Sandberg and the 3Ps

My colleague Matt recently posted about Sheryl Sandberg's address to the Berkeley students and her reference to the 3Ps - personalisation, permanence an...

Hilary Clinton proposes plan to address mental health treatment

We have had prime ministers, princes and princesses talking about it on this side of the pond, now the leading candidate to be the next US president ple...

Sheryl on building resilience

For some time I have been in awe of Sheryl. Some of the stuff she does maybe grates a little, but the overall direction is flawless. Today my friend Emm...

HR Magazine: Mental health support is still too reactive

Workplaces need to be much more proactive about mental health, Mark O’Grady shares four ways how.

Forbes: Tackling loneliness in remote working

Our expert Amanda Okill tells Forbes what actions organisations and individuals can take.