Blooming Minds Mental Health & Wellbeing January 2017

J A N UA RY 2 0 1 7

ISSUE 6

The Small Things A FAMILIES DEDICATION TO INCREASING SUICIDE AWARENESS

POLICY & PROCEDURE CREATING A CULTURE OF POSITIVE MENTAL HEALTH

MENTAL ILLNESS in the workplace HOW CAN WE REDUCE THE EFFECTS OF STRESS?

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ISSUE 6 January ’17 Cover photo and artwork featured in this edition by Mel Tregonning

CONTENTS 4 MENTAL ILLNESS IN THE WORKPLACE 9 MENTAL ILLNESS IN THE COMMUNITY 10 THE SMALL THINGS 14 POLICY & PROCEDURE 16 WORKPLACE COMPLAINTS 20 VOLUNTEER & BLOOM 22 STRIVING FOR EXCELLENCE 26 HOW CAN WE REDUCE THE EFFECTS OF STRESS? 29 ATTITUDE 30 UNPLUGGING, RESTORING CALM FOCUS & ENERGY

Founder and Editor-in-Chief: TASHA BROOMHALL Deputy Editor: SHARNA MENSAH Editing and proofreading: SHARNA MENSAH Contributing Writers: TASHA BROOMHALL SOPHIE BUDD JULIE MEEK FRANCA SALA TENNA BRADLEY HUNTER Contributing Photographers: HORRE PHOTOGRAPHY CRAIG BROOMHALL Typesetting and internal design: CRAIG BROOMHALL SHARNA MENSAH

www.bloomingminds.com.au

Blooming Minds© 2016 All Rights Reserved. We encourage you to share the content of this e-magazine with others who you think may be interested. However to comply with copyright please ensure that information is only shared in its full form and with the credit given to the authors.

The information, opinions, suggestions and ideas contained in this publication are based on the experience of the contributors and research information which is believed to be accurate but not infallible. All effort has been made to render this information free from error or omission. Whilst written and presented in good faith, Blooming Minds and the contributors assume no responsibility or liability for any loss or damage caused directly or indirectly from this information. The material cannot substitute for appropriate professional opinion, which would take into account individual factors, specific situations, environmental conditions or circumstances likely to influence actions taken or avoided at any time. Please be advised, this presentation provides general information only, and should not be seen as professional advice specific to any particular situation, problem or person. If you require assistance for mental health issues please contact your medical practitioner or call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

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TASHA’S UPDATE Shelley Jeffrey about her experience of becoming unwell and the response she faced in the workplace. We also share with you a story about the work being initiated by the ever-inspiring chef Sophie Budd to transform lives through cooking, and essentially, through positive connection.

A few months ago, I was fortunate to meet the sage, graceful and determined Violet Colja.

Gratefully, I have been able to spend some time getting to know Violet over the last few months and I am excited to introduce her to those of you who are not familiar with her ongoing efforts to promote her late sister, Mel Tregonnings, work.

Violet and her family lost their beloved Mel to suicide two years ago, and since then have determinedly worked to help others experience the beauty of Mel’s art work. Their efforts have seen Mel’s beautiful book ‘Small Things’ published posthumously by Allen and Unwin.

The book provides an opportunity to discuss emotions and recovery with children and teenagers, with both teaching and parents notes available on the books website.

Our articles on the workplace impacts of mental illness will provide you with insights into what people experience, how it may impact in your workplace and how you can manage both the human and business needs in the way you respond.

This year we will be taking our Workplace Mental Health Seminars around Australia, New Zealand and the UK. We would love for you to join us at an event or to forward the info on to people in those areas who you know could benefit from skills to better manage mental health issues in the workplace.

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts on the articles in this edition.

Violet is so inspiring to me. To traverse her grief Email me at info@bloomingminds.com.au in a way that must at times open her up to more Want some more ideas for how to help yourself vulnerably as she shares with others seems such bloom? Watch here. a brave choice. In this issue, we also interview others who have taken their experiences in Best wishes, life and are determined to use them to create positive change around them. We interviewed

Tasha

Meet your obligations for managing mental health in the workplace.

Partnering with your organisation to ensure your leaders: • Understand their responsibilities around workplace mental health • Can recognise and appropriately respond to workplace mental health issues • Have the skills to minimise the impacts to productivity and other employees • Create a culture of positive mental wellbeing, minimising stress and maximising effectiveness You don’t want to just talk about workplace mental health – we work with you to develop Awareness. Skills. Behaviour.

Talk to us today about how we can help you: www.bloomingminds.com.au

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ILLNESS

Nowadays we hear a lot about mental health and wellbeing in the workplace, but we are usually only hearing about it in relation to the costs associated with mental illness.

Mental health is a part of our general health and during our lifetime approximately half of us will experience mental illness.

Tasha Broomhall excerpt from Bloom at Work

MENTAL

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mental illness, and provide opportunities for employees to positively enhance their mental health and wellbeing. Add to this that most organisations care about their employees, it’s not simply an economic issue, it’s a human issue.

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hat many organisations fail to capitalise on is that rather than waiting for mental illness to have negative impacts in their workplace, they can benefit from deliberate action to proactively look after their employees’ mental health and wellbeing. However, many organisations choose to wait. They don’t have an organisational fitness plan for their employees’ mental health and they don’t use a preventative approach. Instead, they wait until things are broken and then scramble to fix them.

Using ongoing strategies preventative strategies to look after their employees’ mental health and wellbeing would the opportunity for employees to be and stay mentally healthy.

Mental wellbeing needs to be an active process.

This is not to say that an employee’s mental wellbeing is the responsibility of the employer.

But given that there is very strong evidence that happy and healthy employees are good for business profitability, and that unwell employees can serve to drain resources and reduce profitability and productivity, it makes good business sense to not ignore this issue.

Instead, organisations need to be able to appropriately recognise and respond to mental health issues in employees. In addition, they need to minimise workplace risk factors for

Despite the high prevalence of mental health issues in the workplace many managers and supervisors do not know how to appropriately respond to mental health issues in their employees.

Consider the leaders in your organisation: • Do they know how to recognise and appropriately discuss mental health concerns with an employee?

• Do they understand their obligations around privacy and confidentiality?

• Do they know how to design and implement reasonable adjustments for staff with mental health issues that support both the individuals’ and the business’s needs?

The Cost of Mental Health Issues in the Workplace The overall financial impact of mental health issues in the workplace is estimated to be: • 6 million work days lost in absenteeism annually due to untreated depression1 • 12 million more work days lost to presenteeism each year • $10.9 billion lost in productivity per year (average cost of $9,665/year/FT employee)2 • $10 billion a year for the cost of stress-related workers’ compensation claims (this has doubled in recent years)3 Additionally, when considering psychological injury claims, work pressure is reported as the cause of half of all claims, and harassment and bullying is the cause of almost a quarter of all claims4

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Employers are legally obliged to: • Not discriminate against an employee with mental illness: Disability discrimination legislation requires you to ensure your workplace does not discriminate against or harass workers with mental illness (either directly or indirectly). This extends to making reasonable adjustments to meet the needs of workers with mental illness.

Work related mental stress Workers’ Compensation claims have doubled in recent years. They are the most expensive form of Workers’ Compensation claim because they usually involve lengthy periods of absence4.

Poor psychological and physical health is having a serious impact on worker wellbeing and productivity, which results in increased costs to employers. Research indicates that job stressors such as an ‘unhealthy’ workplace, work overload, or a traumatic work incident can contribute to the development of mental illness4, or exacerbate already existing illnesses.

As well as the costs, the law requires that organisations provide reasonable adjustments for employees with mental illness and that employers do not discriminate against an employee on the grounds of mental illness or disability.

• Ensure health and safety: OHS legislation requires you to ensure your workplace is safe and healthy for all workers and does not cause ill health or aggravate existing conditions.

• Ensure privacy: Privacy legislation requires you to ensure personal information about a worker’s mental health status is not disclosed to anyone without the worker’s consent.

• Avoid adverse actions: you are also required under Commonwealth industrial law to ensure your workplace does not take any adverse action against a worker because of their mental illness.4

A survey including respondents from Australia, the USA, England and Ireland found that 85% of those who disclosed a mental health issue to their employer or manager believed the disclosure had an adverse impact on their situation – the outcome often being a loss of job responsibilities, increased bullying, indifference or even outright hostility.5

1.

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2007, National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing: Summary of Results 2007 date viewed 30/8/2015 <http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/ausstats/subscriber. nsf/0/6AE6DA447F985FC2CA2574EA00122BD6/$File/43260_2007.pdf>

2.

Price Waterhouse Coopers, 2014, Creating a mentally healthy workplace return on investment analysis, Price Waterhouse Coopers, viewed 30/8/2015 < http://www.headsup.org.au/docs/default-source/resources/beyondblue_workplaceroi_finalreport_ may-2014.pdf>

3.

Medibank Private, 2008, The Cost of Workplace Stress in Australia, Medibank Private, viewed 30/8/2015 < http://www.medibank. com.au/client/documents/pdfs/the-cost-of-workplace-stress.pdf>

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The workplace impacts of mental health issues can vary greatly from one individual to another. Whether an individual needs to disclose their illness or not may also differ depending on the type, frequency and impact of their symptoms. Sometimes it will be very clear that a person is experiencing mental health issues, but at other times it might not.

Individuals may experience variations in the severity of the functional impacts caused by their mental illness, and they may need different levels and types of support.

Organisations have traditionally not been good at responding with an individual approach to an issue that is often shrouded in misunderstanding, stereotype and stigma.

For many years, organisations have significantly invested in supporting the health and safety of their employees. They have been

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provided with training to understand safety issues in the workplace and to recognise risks to their physical health. Organisations have developed specific elective programs for employees to increase their physical health and minimise risks to the organisation. This approach has targeted areas such as manual handling training, hazard awareness, blood pressure testing, weight management plans and physical exercise programs. However, these programs have not widely been extended to include mental health and wellbeing.

Despite one in five adults experiencing mental health problems each year1, nearly half of all senior managers believe none of their workers will experience a mental health problem in the workplace4. Given the numbers, sticking their heads in the sand does not make good business sense. Mental health issues are real

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Given that there is very strong evidence that happy and healthy employees are good for business profitability, and that unwell employees can serve to drain resources and reduce profitability and productivity, it makes good business sense to not ignore this issue.â&#x20AC;?

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4.

Australian Human Rights Commission 2010, 2010 Workers with Mental Illness: a Practical Guide for Managers, Australian Human Rights Commission, date viewed 30/8/2015, <https://www.humanrights.gov.au/ publications/2010-workers-mental-illness-practical-guide-managers/1-mental-health-workplace>

5.

Broomhall T, 2014, Mental Health in the Workplace Survey, Blooming Minds

6.

Sane Australia, n.d., Fact Sheets- Anxiety Disorders, date viewed 30/8/2015 https://www.sane.org/ information/factsheets-podcasts/158-anxiety-disorders

7.

Kitchener, B.A, Jorm A.F, Kell C.M., 2013, Mental Health First Aid Manual. 3rd ed. Melbourne: Mental Health First Aid Australia

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CONTINUUM OF MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING MENTALLY UNWELL

MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS

DISTRESSED

MENTALLY HEALTHY RESILIENT

POOR COPING SKILLS

STRONG COPING SKILLS

HOPELESSNESS

RESOURCEFULNESS

DISCONNECTED FROM OTHERS

POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS

ANGRY OUTBURSTS

USUAL MOOD FLUCTUATIONS

SLEEPING TOO MUCH/TOO LITTLE

USUAL SLEEP PATTERNS

EXCESSIVE ANXIETY AND WORRY

ENERGISED

PERVASIVE SADNESS

ABLE TO MANAGE CHALLENGES

WITHDRAWAL

• FOLLOW MENTAL HEALTH EMERGENCY PROCEDURE AS REQUIRED • MANAGER TO SEEK IMMEDIATE SUPPORT FROM HR/MANAGERS’ ASSIST HELPLINE • ENCOURAGE EMPLOYEE TO ACCESS PROFESSIONAL SUPPORTS • MANAGER AND OTHER AFFECTED STAFF TO SEEK SUPPORT FROM HR/EAP

SOCIALLY ENGAGED

• MANAGER TO SEEK SUPPORT FROM HR/ MANAGERS ASSIST HELPLINE AS REQUIRED

• INIATE APPROPRIATE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THE CHANGES YOU ARE NOTICING

• INITIATE APPROPRIATE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THE CHANGES YOU ARE NOTICING

• CONSIDER ANY WORKPLACE FACTORS THAT MAY BE CONTRIBUTING AND RECTIFY THEM

• DESIGN AND IMPLEMENT REASONABLE • REMIND EMPLOYEE OF ADJUSTMENTS SUPPORTS AVAILABLE • ENCOURAGE EMPLOYEE TO ACCESS EAP

and relevant in the workplace. It is far better to develop a strategy to minimise the impacts and costs – both human and economic.

Think for a moment of mental health lying on a continuum. On one end, there are periods of being very unwell and struggling, and on the other end there are periods of being really well and buoyant. At any given time, our mental health might fluctuate up and down on this continuum. Sometimes we may feel like we are on the unwell side of things and we may not feel that we have the capacity to cope with the problems we are facing. We might start to feel a little detached from those around us and withdraw or find ourselves in unhealthy relationships. On the flip side, there may be times when we feel like we are floating along calmly – we

• PROACTIVE STRATEGIES FOR INDIVIDUAL SELFCARE • PREVENTATIVE STRATEGIES FOR MINIMISING WORKPLACE RISKS • INCLUDE MENTAL HEALTH IN OSH ASSESSMENTS • SKILL DEVELOPMENT FOR MANAGERS TO INCREASE MENTAL HEALTH LITERACY

may feel that we can find solutions to the challenges that we are facing, and we are engaged in healthy, positive relationships. We may frequently float back and forth on this continuum depending on what is happening in our life.

It’s important to note, however, that even when you are on the unwell side of the continuum, you can be well supported and have good resources and still be able to function in the roles and relationships that are important to you. You can still be enjoying life and living it to the best of your circumstances. But you may not always feel like it, which is even more reason to positively strive to support your mental health and wellbeing.

Tasha Broomhall

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MENTALILLNESS ILLNESS MENTAL MENTAL ILLNESS

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e hear a lot about depression in the media – we have had many high profile athletes, politicians and musicians publicly disclose their experiences with depression. But we tend to use the language quite loosely and sometimes when we talk about depression, we’re actually just talking about sadness, not diagnosable clinical depression.

In recent years we have had good community awareness programs around depression and as a result many people assume that this is the most common mental illness. However, anxiety disorders are in fact more common with around 14% of us experiencing anxiety disorders every year6, which is more than twice the rate of depressive disorders.

We often disregard anxiety disorders as ‘being stressed’ and either simply accept it or blame it on those around us – our boss, our partner, our families or maybe even the cat. But if that stress is ongoing, long lasting and is impacting on your functioning then it is possible that it’s more than stress and possibly an anxiety disorder and it is worth seeking professional treatment.

Substance Use Disorder is also a common mental illness, coming in just behind depression, and psychosis, which has a much lower prevalence rate, but can be a high impact disorder when it is present.

Despite one in five adults experiencing mental illness every year1, not all of these people

are diagnosed or receive treatment for their illness. Sometimes a person is not aware that what they are going through are actually mental health problems, particularly in the early stages, so they may not do anything about them until it is having a huge impact on their functioning, or it is noticed by others.

By this time the impact can be devastating in terms of how it affects a person’s life – it may be causing a loss of work or life roles, loss of opportunities, loss of relationships, or loss of self-esteem and confidence.

Many people will mask the emotional distress and impact of living with mental health issues because although our community talks far more openly these days about depression, we don’t often talk about other mental illnesses and we still have high levels of discrimination and stigmatising attitudes about mental health issues in general.

Almost half of us (45%) will experience mental illness in our lifetime7. If you haven’t had your experience yet then maybe it has been someone close to you who has, or maybe yours is still to come. So, while you may not be experiencing mental illness at this point in time, it may have been in your past and may still be in your future. Consciously choosing strategies to minimise and manage stress, to stay positively connected with others, to find meaning and purpose in your life and to keep you on the more positive side of the mental health continuum is a great idea.

Tasha Broomhall

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Photography Nicky Grobler

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el Tregonning’s Small Things debuted in 2016, the beautiful picture book has been recognised as one of the ‘books of the year’ (The West Australian) due to the compelling and emotive story about a young boy dealing with monsters in his shadows, alluding to many issues such as bullying, pressure to succeed and depression. However, in the shadow of the book’s success lays the Tregonning family’s heartache, as Mel completed suicide in 2014, prior to the books release. Mel’s sister Violet, with the assistance of her family, ensured Mel’s master piece would be brought to fruition.

Small Things tells the tale of a young boy trying to find his place in the world and struggling to do so. As he looks around him, all he can see are the successes of others— they are able to make friends, they are able to smile and laugh, they are doing well at

The Small Things school, ultimately, they have what he is missing. Gradually, all these ‘small things’ start to creep in and the cracks begin to show.

Despite attempts to ignore and resist, they keep growing and chipping away at him. He withdraws further and further from those around him as the darkness descends. It is the persistence of a friendly face, and the sharing of a connected experience which begins a turnaround for the boy. He comes to see that his experience is not an isolated one, that everyone is affected by some small things, and with this, he sees a familiar face in the crowd.

Violet continues to promote the book and speak about suicide prevention. We spoke to Violet about the journey she has been on over the past few years and the suicide prevention work she is doing in honour of Mel.

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Q: Do you remember what you knew or thought about suicide before losing Mel?

Q: What do you think people misunderstand about suicide?

Although I worked at an organisation that provided mental health services to the community I actually knew very little. I knew it was an important issue and was open minded, but I learnt so much more after she passed away. The biggest thing was I didn’t know where to go, or who to speak to in order to get Mel crisis intervention.

Although now I know some key numbers, there still is not enough support available for those in crisis.

I hear people constantly say they are not a suicidal type, and when people express concern for a friend or family member someone usually brushes it off by saying they don’t believe we need to be worried because they don’t believe the person has a suicidal personality. My belief is that everyone can be suicidal when in certain circumstances, regardless of whether they have a diagnosed or underlining mental illness or not. My sister was passionate and positive, full of life, constantly talking about her career, book projects and future. She was very ambitious and very dedicated, and unfortunately due to the state of her mind during the breakdown that I believe she suffered, her dedication was focused on ending her life and her pain in that moment.

Q: How did your understanding of suicide change with your own experiences?

I think it is fairly normal for anyone who is confronted with suicide to do a lot of research in the aftermath. I became knowledgeable about many different illnesses and their symptoms, how to manage them and recover. My eyes were opened to the complexities and hardship that people with a mental illness face and how very alone and excluded they can feel. I was always aware of the stigma but not to the extent that I learnt. As someone who had a sibling who completed suicide and spoke openly about it, I also faced a different stigma- survivor stigma. People judged me and my parents, sometimes complete strangers, assuming we did something wrong and placing isolation and shame onto us which could be very confronting and hard to process.

Mel’s proud family at the book launch and exhibition of Small Things, September 2016

Q: What advice would you give to someone else who has lost a loved one to suicide?

To connect with your loved ones, those around you who are positive influences in your life. It can also be hard because you are so immersed in your own grief but try to consider and appreciate the grief of the other family members or close friends of the departed and be considerate of their pain, feelings and wishes. It will help everyone to heal, reduce conflict and bitterness. Everyone grieves differently and will vary in their feelings of sadness, anger and guilt. Some may be very reluctant to talk and others may want to talk about it constantly.

Respect that you all may feel completely different at different times and occasions and that’s completely normal.

Mel and sister Violet at Violet’s wedding 2014

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It will never be okay, there will be bad days and weeks, but you will learn what helps you to get through whether it be writing, walking, talking etc. Eventually you will find yourself settle into a comfortable place which will be the new normal.

Q: What are your goals now with Mels work?

I have achieved everything I set out to do so far which has been so very rewarding and healing for our family. We had a very successful book launch and art exhibition in September 2016 at Kidogo Arthouse and held two other exhibitions later in the year. My goal is to hold more exhibitions across the country so that more people can see the original artwork and appreciate her talent. They are truly masterful pencil illustrations which are quite something to see in person.

So far we have one planned for Bunbury and Fremantle and we are in discussions for a Melbourne CBD exhibition.

Q: How do you look after yourself?

I have a very supportive husband who helps keep me positive especially on the bad days. Roughly two years ago I became the mother of two cats, who have definitely played a significant role in

my healing. I remember reading once that petting animals helps to reduce anxiety. I have also recently started to speak with a grief counsellor, which I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think I was in the right frame of mind to do prior, but it has recently helped me during this particular stage of my grief.

Q: Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your experience?

Early intervention and education is the key to helping more people and potentially saving lives.

A more educated society about mental illness from a young age and in young families will lead to reduced stigma. My family believes that Melâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work Small Things can play a small part in the required education and help young families to start a conversation about mental health. As the picture book has no words, it will allow children and adults to draw their own conclusions about the message and take something away from the story that is relevant and meaningful to their lives at that particular moment. My family hopes that you can take the time to look at Melâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work and that it helps you or someone you care about.

Tasha Broomhall & Sharna Mensah Mel getting creative with photography at Sculpture by the Sea

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taking a closer look at suicide Mental health issues and suicide risk are complex and individual experiences. There are no quick fixes, and the right approach to recovery is an individual experience.

Suicidal risk factors you might notice include: • Saying they want to die (directly or indirectly talking about “things being too much” or they “can’t see any way out”) • Putting affairs in order, that is, giving away possessions, especially those that have special significance • Writing about death or suicide, a suicide note or goodbye letters • Withdrawal and isolation from family and friends • Withdrawal from activities or commitments that were previously important to them • Uncharacteristic risk-taking or reckless behaviour • Suicidal thoughts or attempts • Self-harming behaviour • Suicidal plans — when or how they may do it — take this risk very seriously It is considered an emergency when someone has moved on from thinking about it, to making actual plans. In this case, seek help and advice from a service such as The Suicide Call-back Service; 1300 659 467.

What should I do when someone threatens suicide regularly?

• Take all indication of suicide risk seriously; a person who is talking about suicide is in need of support.

• If it is an ongoing conversation then seek help from a mental health professional about how to continually support them as well as during times of crisis. Never keep suicide risk a secret and never feel you are responding alone, call a help service and they can advise you, help assess the risks and determine what action to take.

If at any point you have concerns about someone’s immediate safety or risk of suicide then you should seek urgent crisis support. Call The Suicide Call-back Service on 1300 659 467 or the Mental Health Emergency Response Line: 1300 555 788 (in Australia, or your local mental health crisis line internationally)

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ould you discriminate against an employee who was blind? Would you allow time off and a graduated return to work for an employee after a heart attack? Would you make adjustments to support an employee with a broken limb who needed a change in duties during recovery? It is imperative that organisations respond to a person with mental illness with the same underpinning principles that they would apply to an employee with a physical illness or disability. Mental health issues are common and should be recognised as a part of general health. Employees’ mental health issues can have significant human and economic impacts in an organisation.

Human toll aside, the economic impacts of untreated mental health issues in the workplace include increased absenteeism and presenteeism (decreased productivity), decreased morale, and higher staff turnover. What does this cost your organisation? It is estimated that every employee with untreated depression alone, costs organisations almost $10,000 per year1. However, little effort is made to offset these losses despite research that shows that every dollar invested in the mental health of employees will have almost 500% return in regained productivity.

To be able to start to reduce the costs – both to people and to businesses, we need to improve the mental health culture in our organisations.

Managers and Supervisors need to know their roles and responsibilities in responding to mental health issues in the workplace. They need to know what is legally required to ensure that they are

not unwittingly discriminating against employees because of their mental illness. They need strategies to approach and address employees with mental health issues; the ability to recognise the functional impacts for what they are; have the appropriate conversations with employees; and skills to develop reasonable workplace accommodations for employees with a diagnosed mental illness.

Employers are required to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to support the employment of people with mental illness. It is important to understand that: • Not all people will experience symptoms or functional impacts that are obvious to others.

• Not all employees will require workplace adjustments.

• Not all employees will want to disclose • An employee’s illness may fluctuate and the organisation’s responses need to be flexible as well.

• Employees do not always require time off work to recover.

• Treatment is as individual as the individual and the illness itself. Respect their right to selfdetermination.

• A mental illness is not an intellectual disability.

• Mental illness is common and you will likely have some employees with mental health issues without ever knowing it.

Tasha Broomhall

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Shelley Jeffrey, author of the blog Depression and Me- The Journey from Black is a manager from Auckland, New Zealand who shares her experience of dealing with depression in the workplace: By 2010 I had nearly reached the pinnacle of my career in management. I took on challenges, saw a lot of change and led my teams with as much care as I humanly could. That same year, I was approached to lead and manage a new team. I accepted this new challenge and the secondment of 5 months, living in a motel and possibly returning home occasionally when time allowed.

I took up residence in this remote town just after the earthquakes and before the Pike River Mine tragedy. My team and the whole town went into deep mourning and huge grief after the mine tragedy and I struggled to meet the needs of the town and the team with all I had until one day when I broke. I was unable to think, process, see.

Just functioning required thought processes I found so hard and I closed down.

medication. And then I chose to challenge a point of law through the court. I wanted to have my experience acknowledged as a workplace injury therefore supporting me during my journey back to ‘employability.

When I returned after the secondment I had a meeting with HR and my direct manager and fully disclosed where I was at and asked for support.

Instead of support they offered me another demanding contract which would demand even more of me. I felt I had no choice but to resign.

After a period of unemployment, I was able to secure another position with a different company and gradually stabilised with the assistance of therapy and

Do you want mental health strategies to implement for employees and managers?

The Workplace Mental Health for Leaders Seminar will develop leaders skills and give frameworks to follow to develop your organisation’s positive mental health culture.

Learn about: • Common mental illnesses of anxiety, depression and of psychosis.

• Symptoms and functional impacts in the workplace of each of these illnesses.

• Roles and responsibilities when responding to mental health issues in the workplace.

• Strategies to approach employees.

• Design reasonable workplace adjustments for mental illness.

• How to talk to employees about mental illness.

• Develop a Workplace Mental Health Strategy.

My own experience with depression has changed my understanding of mental illness in the workplace hugely. My focus over time leant towards ‘wellness at work’ and prevention is so much better than cure such as noticing when an employee isn’t travelling well and making changes to support them. I have written a blog about my journey and have a Facebook community page where I place self-help tips and encouragement for those not travelling well or those who support others.

When I think back when it was all so bleak, I made the choice to get up in the morning...I still had the power over me and what I did one day at a time, one step at a time.... get yea behind me ya black dog!

SEMINAR DATES: AUCKLAND | TBC

NZ Register Here

ADELAIDE 1 MAY 2017 SA Register Here

MELBOURNE 3 MAY 2017 VIC Register Here

SYDNEY 5 MAY 2017 NSW Register Here

PERTH 9 MAY 2017 WA Register Here

LONDON 29 JUNE 2017 UK Register Here

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workplace COMPLAINTS A

s a mum, I sometimes feel like I am all things to all people in my household. I am the peace keeper and negotiator between my two sons and sometimes between my sons and my husband.

I am the detective when keys are misplaced (again!), I am the travel consultant when working out where is the “best place” for us to go this year, I am the chef when planning the week’s menu and so the list goes on.

In the workplace, many middle managers have found themselves in this place also. They are responsible to do their job and in addition they are expected to be the chief motivator of their team, the anchor during times of change, the disciplinarian when staff have crossed the line, and the counsellor in times of trouble.

How are they supposed to have picked up all of these skills in the midst of learning how to become “experts” in the “tools” of their actual trade?

And therein lies the problem. More and more duties have been placed on middle managers but they haven’t been afforded the necessary information and skills to take on these extra roles.

One of the extra roles that is now expected of them, and for most they are ill-equipped to do, is that of effectively and respectfully managing workplace complaints such as bullying, sexual harassment and discrimination.

The result of not knowing how to do this well can have a devastating impact on the individuals involved in the process and the organisation as a whole. Too often we hear stories of previous complaints made, that were managed badly and resulted in staff leaving, teams fractured, compensation claims lodged and individuals on all sides mentally impacted. A recent report released by the NSW Auditor-General

focusing on the cost of claims for psychological injuries in the NSW Department of Education confirms this.

The report states that in 2015-2016, 208 employees lodged a compensation claim citing bullying, harassment and violence as the alleged cause of injury, an increase of 33.9% on the previous year.

Interestingly the 33.9% increase resulted in a 64.5% increase (to $12.5 million) in the cost of the compensation claims because the claims related

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to psychological injury. Allan Fels AO Chair of the National Mental Health Commission said recently, “Psychological injury claims are far more expensive than physical injury claims primarily because of longer recovery times.”

From a purely economic perspective it Is not good business to manage workplace complaints poorly. The numbers above, suggest that for each one of the 208 employees who made a complaint, it cost the Education Department, at a minimum $60,096. In reality the cost would be much greater due to other related costs such as absenteeism, presenteeism, the loss of an employee’s quality of life due to their declining mental state and the loss for an employer of a once valuable staff member.

Staying with the economic perspective, it costs a minimum of $60,000 per complaint, and yet some organisations state there is no money to effectively skill up their managers to know how to legally and emotionally manage a workplace complaint.

Workplaces need to become proactive in their management of workplace problems.

Managing Workplace Issues- For Leaders, Senior Management and Business Owners, is one of our most in demand courses at EEO Specialists – find out more here.

Franca Sala Tenna

Franca Sala Tenna is a lawyer, presenter and director of EEO Specialists. Franca combines her knowledge of Australian workplace laws with her skills as a presenter to provide practical, understandable information and skills to enable managers to effectively manage workplace issues. Franca is passionate about making a positive difference in workplaces. franca@franca.com.au ph (08) 6102 4411 www.equalopportunitytraining.com.au

Essential Complaints Skills for Managers: • Identifying potential workplace issues before they blow up • Being aware of the legal process that must be followed • Knowing when and how to intervene appropriately • Understanding how to structure a difficult conversation and what to say at the beginning, middle and end of a conversation • Knowing the three levels of a conversation, recognising where a conversation can get “stuck” and how to overcome these obstacles • Understanding how your body language can sink or save you in a difficult conversation • Recording reliable notes and knowing how to follow-up

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OUR RESOURCES BLOOM! MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING

BY TASHA BROOMHALL

Available in paperback or ebook format.

This book debunks some of the common misunderstandings around mental health and mental illness and provides practical strategies for you to use to support your own mental health as well as support those around you.

$22 INC GST

BLOOM! AT WORK! A MENTAL HEALTH GUIDE FOR LEADERS

BY TASHA BROOMHALL

Available in paperback or ebook format.

This book will provide knowledge about the relevance of mental health issues, a brief overview of common mental health issues and possible functional impacts and a range of proactive strategies and resources that may assist both the employee and the organisation.

$25.00 INC GST

A YEAR TO BLOOM – 52 WEEK JOURNAL Feeling stressed? Overwhelmed? In a funk?

Need some support for your mental health?

This guided 52 week journal will give you practical ideas and guidance to enhance your wellbeing through two strategies.

Each week a new journal activity will encourage you to continue actively enhancing your mental health over the next 52 weeks.

You can choose from two different formats – a printed a5 journal or weekly emails delivered straight to your inbox.

$17.60 INC GST

LIVE CONSCIOUSLY AND BLOOM – SELF REFLECTION JOURNAL

The personal reflections journal provides a guiding hand in reviewing your values. Based on these values you will then set daily intentions and cultivate your gratitude.

Carrying out those two simple steps each day can make an incredible difference to your life.

$24.20 INC GST

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FOR YOU...

Workplace Mental Health & Wellbeing Campaign You can develop your organisation’s mental health culture through a targeted information program that includes integrated articles in your newsletter, informative posters, information on your intranet to develop awareness, and skills to recognise and respond to mental health issues in the workplace. The pack is designed around a 12-month campaign to raise mental health awareness in your organisation and focusses on building the individual resilience of your employees.

Concerned about someone’s mental health and not sure how to approach them?

Let’s Talk About It Video Series Educational videos for your intranet about how to have appropriate workplace conversations in relation to mental health and wellbeing.

“I've noticed…”

(State observable facts)

“Have you noticed..?”

(Ask for their perspective)

Workplace Information Pack This pack includes short guidelines suitable for inclusion on your intranet.

Titles: • What is mental health and mental illness • General impacts of mental health issues in the workplace • How to respond if you have concerns about a colleague or employees mental health • Strategies for managing mental health issues with an employee • Responding to an employee or colleague who may be at risk of suicide • Resources and supports for looking after your own mental health and wellbeing

Ssshhh

(Be quiet and listen)

Your Logo Here

Your EAP Information here

Mental Health in the Workplace for Leaders, ONLINE COURSE This course delivers an overview of common mental illnesses, reasonable adjustments, privacy requirements and balancing people needs with business needs. This course is delivered as four online assessed modules selfpaced with individual assessment of learning.

Each module has videos, recorded lesson, support notes and an assessment.

ORDER HERE

info@bloomingminds.com.au

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volunteer & BLOOM

Sophie Budd, owner of Taste Budds Cooking studio in Perth, is a successful business woman who finds happiness in helping others through a number of initiatives including the 100 Hampton Road project in Fremantle.

100 Hampton Road is a residence for 192 men and women run by Foundation Housing.

The lodge provides furnished accommodation for single people with 24 shared kitchens, bathrooms and communal areas, originally built in the 1960’s as the nurses quarters for Fremantle Hospital.

Residents from the lodge come from diverse backgrounds and are often some of the most underprivileged in our community. Many have mental health issues, substance use problems or are living isolated lives with limited social connections. For some living in the lodge is the first step to a normal life after spending time on the streets. For others it is a longer term home, providing an important option in the context of the challenges of affordability and access to appropriate housing in WA. Sophie currently cooks with the residents on Mondays, using Food Rescue fruit and veg to make up to 600 packaged meals for the residents – from soup, curry and fruit salad to banana bread and spaghetti bolognese.

Sophie cooks with her right-hand lady and team leader in the project Natalie Miller alongside volunteer chefs and friends and the residents of 100 Hampton Road. The residents know that at 1 pm on Monday’s they can come down and grab nutritious hot food, for free!

For more info contact sophie by emailing: cook@tastebudds.co

‘A kitchen is built with steel and fire, it doesn’t judge who you are, it’s a space for people to come together and prepare and share meals with love’ Sophie Budd

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ant to be happier?

Shawn Accor, New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Advantage conducted research on happiness in a 2011 study1, which found that social support is the highest predictor of happiness during periods of stress. Interestingly, he found that even more important to sustained happiness and engagement than the social support received was the amount of social support the study participants provided.

Social support providers (people who help others, or initiate social interactions) were much more likely to be engaged in their work and even 40% more likely to get a promotion.

Volunteering in an area that you are passionate about is one way to provide and receive

positive social support and in turn increase your happiness.

In addition to the psychological benefits of volunteering, and the benefits of providing social support, it also allows us to better live our life aligned with our values. In our Blooming & Buoyant course (developing personal resilience and mental wellbeing) overwhelmingly, participants report they are struggling with the activities of daily life â&#x20AC;&#x201C; grinding through the days, weeks, years and many feel disconnected from their wider communities and even their families What are your most important values in life? Do you live by these values? Think back over the last three months. Were you living in line with these values? What if one of your

Sophie Budd is chef and owner of Taste Budds Cooking Studio. She is passionate about teaching people to cook and feeding people! Her resume includes working for both Rick Stein and Jamie Oliver.

values is community service?

And you want to help and support charities, and you spend a lot of time talking about it but never doing it? Or maybe you strongly value being positive and kind. But maybe you are so overwhelmed with work that you find yourself being snappy and judgemental of others. One way to refocus is to proactively use a journal to help you define your values, and decide how you will intentionally live aligned with them following the Bloom formula: BLOOM = focus your time and positive attention in the areas of your life that are underlined by your values 1. Achor, S. Positive Intelligence.

Harvard Business Review, JanuaryFebruary 2012.

Sharna Mensah

Photograph HorrĂŠ Photography

W

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Striving for We have arrived at that time of the year when reflection on the past 12 months and planning for the next is at the forefront of our minds.

Many of us strive to do our best but to achieve excellence in anything we must practice the skill weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re seeking to build over and over, deliberately. However, in our world of endless demands and distractions, most of us spend very little time practicing anything.

When we look at successful people who have achieved excellence the most common questions asked about them include the special talents they have, how intelligent they are, what kind of lifestyles they have and what type of personalities they have. We assume that these qualities explain how an individual reaches the top of their profession.

Author and former world champion table tennis player Matthew Syed poses an interesting question in his book Bounce â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The myth of talent and the power of practice.

How long do you need to practice in order to achieve excellence?

Extensive research across the globe has shown that from art to science and from board games to tennis, a minimum of ten years is required to reach world-class status in any complex task. In Bounce, Syed describes the analysis of the top nine golfers of the twentieth century and in each case 10 years elapsed between starting to play golf and winning an international competition.

Studies of the 120 most important scientists and 123 most famous poets and authors in the nineteenth century showed that in all

cases 10 years elapsed between their first work and their best work.

Author Malcolm Gladwell, notes that most top performers in any field practice for around one thousand hours per year and as a result he has redefined the ten-year rule as the 10,000-hour rule. This is the minimum time necessary for the acquisition of expertise in any complex task. Much of the research

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Excellence in the area of elite performance challenges the idea that talent alone is responsible for success and show that purposeful practice is the only factor distinguishing the best from the rest.

Research shows that if you are not actively working to get better at what you are trying to do (whatever it is), there is a good chance you’re getting worse, no matter what the quality of your initial training. Most of us become fixed in our habits and practices and we don’t continue to try and improve, even when we are performing below par.

Clearly not everyone is or will want to be a world-class violinist, an expert surgeon or even an Olympic athlete but each of us has the ability to be excellent and achieve success in our lives in different areas. Success and excellence in your personal and professional lives can be achieved without being the Managing Director of a company. A personal best is an accomplishment that is better than anything you have ever achieved before and striving for excellence and personal bests need not be restricted to world-class athletes.

Completing a 10km run for the first time, losing weight and continually working to keep it off, quitting smoking and sticking to it, working to the best of your ability in your profession and pushing yourself to continually improve or establishing an exercise routine and keeping it fresh are all examples of striving for excellence while avoiding being average or mediocre.

A nutritionist and dietitian, Julie Meek is one of the most respected sports dietitians in australia with over 15 years’ experience in public, sports and corporate nutrition. www.juliemeek.com.au

“It is a wretched taste to be gratified with mediocrity when the excellent lies before us.”

Issac D’Israeli.

Julie Meek

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MORE MORE MORE

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one day seminar

Workplace Mental 43% Health

Do you need mental health training for your busy managers that they can access where and when they want?

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Find out more with our new online course Mental Health in the Workplace for Leaders plus in-house training options.

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understanding There’s a lot of talk about workplace mental health of yet, talk alone is not enough to reduce the costs and MENTAL impacts of mental health issues in the workplace.

ILLNESS FOR EACH “A healthy working environment is one in which there is not only an ABSENCE of HARMFUL conditions but an ABUNDANCE of health-promoting ones” WOR LD HE A LTH ORG A NISATION

Australian Businesses in c$lusio ns

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Billion COMPREHENSIVE RESOURCE PACK INCLUDING BOOKS AND WORKPLACE TEMPLATES TO ENABLE ACTION TO BE TAKEN ONCE BACK AT WORK.

24 MONTHS ACCESS TO BLOOMERS MEMBERSHIP SITE WITH ONGOING www.bloomingminds.com.au RESOURCES AND SUPPORTS TO DEVELOP YOUR ORGANISATIONS POSITIVE MENTAL HEALTH CULTURE.

$1

Do you want specific strategies to implement for employees and managers?

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Workplace Mental Health for in theThe workplace, there is aSeminar will develop leaders Leaders

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your managers and supervisors: Are your Do managers confident to talk about Know howand to recognise and respond to mental health issues mental health issues in their employees? provide appropriate support in your workplace?

Understand their obligations for privacy confidentiality?

Get positiveand examples of how to achieve this how to design reasonable withKnow our Demonstration adjustments for staff with mental health Videoissues Pack.that support both the individuals’ and the business’s needs?

REGISTER bloomingminds.com.au/leaderseminar

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only

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managers have an

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MENTAL ILLNESS

Learning Outcomes Through this seminar participants will:

• have increased awareness and understanding of the common mental illnesses of anxiety, depression and of psychosis • recognise the possible symptoms and functional impacts in the workplace of each of these illnesses • obtain awareness of their roles and responsibilities when responding to mental health issues in the workplace • develop strategies to approach and address staff with mental health issues • understand how to develop reasonable workplace adjustments for mental illness • develop strategies and the language to use to talk to their staff appropriately about mental illness • learn how to develop and implement a Workplace Mental Health Strategy with take away planning tools to assist them to create a mentally healthy workplace • learn about resources available to assist Managers and Supervisors to support employees with mental illness.

PERTH, ADELAIDE, MELBOURNE, SYDNEY, FOR EACH BRISBANE, LONDON, NEW ZEALAND

$1

Tasha is the Director and lead facilitator for Blooming Minds. She has been providing mental health and wellbeing training programs throughout Australia for 16 years.

invested in

Holding a Principal Master Trainer status from the MHFA Australia program, Tasha is accredited to deliver the Mental Health First Aid program. She has delivered this renowned course to more than 200 groups over the last 11 years, including: teachers; psychiatric nurses; HR personnel; mental health consumers and carers; aged care staff; disability staff; vocational rehabilitation providers; case managers and various government departments.

Tasha’s work has been recognised with the ICCWA Suicide Prevention Award in WA and recently as a finalist in the national Life Awards for Excellence in Suicide Prevention.

Mental Health in the workplace, there is a

Tasha has published a number of books focused on both personal and workplace mental health, including her latest entitled “Bloom at Work – A Mental Health Guide for Leaders”.

She is currently completing Masters of Mental Health Psychology.

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Blooming Minds provides group training and individual consultancy services to assist organisations to understand the impact of mental health problems in their workplace and to minimise the human and economic impacts of employee stress, anxiety and depression.

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How Can We Reduce the Effects of Daily Stress?

Stress can surprise us by being overwhelming or just by being irritatingly present in a constant low-grade form.

In order to reduce even small amounts of stress, try to focus on maintaining a balance in your life between work, family and your personal life. Easier said than done right? Here are 5 quick and easy tips that can help you to get there sooner rather than later...

Marykate Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Meara & Jane Shersher

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5 Tips for Reducing Stress

1

Identify the warning signs of stress

Stress can show up in all kinds of different shapes and sizes. Pinpointing stress can be tricky at times, so identifying the warnings signs can ease the process of stress relief: According to the American Institute of Stress, some symptoms of stress may include: • Anxiety, irritability • Depressed feelings • Social withdrawal • Fatigue • Difficulty sleeping • Difficulty concentrating • Muscle tension • Headaches • Using alcohol or drugs to cope Once symptoms such as these are identified, conquering stress can become an increasingly simplified process. As soon as the impact of stress is identified, what’s left is working backwards toward the source of stress. It’s basically following the breadcrumbs. By solving the symptoms of stress proactively, finding (and processing) the cause may either become clear and easy or less important because your coping strategies have become so powerful. Either way, we have some tips for securing practical moments of peace and selfreflection throughout the day.

2

Smile at yourself in the morning

When you get ready for work in the morning or are brushing your teeth, smile at your reflection in the mirror. Although it may feel silly, this action is not only serving as positive reinforcement, but is also actively releasing endorphins that help to support happiness in your brain.

3

Keep a Gratitude Log

Studies have shown that expressing gratitude on a daily basis can actively combat depressive symptoms and can help with

productivity. Start your day by writing 3 things that you are grateful for about yourself, 3 things that you are grateful for about your work life, and 3 things that you are grateful for about your personal life. Tracing back over the span of weeks of entries, you can see a long trail of successes that help to release tension, celebrate the positive attributes of your life and efforts, and encourage you to continue the good fight toward personal and professional growth.

4

Eat Spirulina

5

Download some of our favourite meditation apps such as:

Spirulina is a highly alkalizing powdered dark green algae that balances your brain chemistry and reinforces the quality of your blood by supporting the function of your liver and pancreas. It offers a mega dose of chlorophyll, iron, sulfur, and fatty acids. This blue-green algae also boosts your immune system and helps to speed up healing as well as ridding your tissues of toxins. And most importantly, it provides you with clean energy that doesn’t make you crash like coffee does in the mornings. See your nutritionist for personalised advice about dosage. If you don’t feel enough of an energy lifter with spirulina, try maca powder, a white dried and powdered root that helps to balance out hormones and also helps to avoid that caffeine crash.

Valley’s Omvana °ThisMind app sports the 22 minute guided

meditation- The 6 Phase Mediation (which can be found on YouTube if you do not have an iphone). This wildly successful meditation was created by the founder of Mindvalley who researched meditation habits of successful people and aggregated their exercises into this condensed recorded practice. The 6 Phase Mediation helps individuals to clearly visualize the futures that they may want for themselves.

The experience helps listeners to start to take action-oriented approaches toward self-actualization. It supports listeners to

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continually revisit long-term goals and implement steps toward achieving them via a daily action plan.

Headspace °Headspace is great for people who

are new to meditation. It is light and entertaining yet soothing and purposeful.

There is a free option called the Take 10, and this is a collection of varied approaches to meditation that can all serve their purpose.

Breathe °Breathe offers a great way to track any

changes in mood and cognition through your weeks of meditation. It offers a real-life opportunity to implement the breadcrumb theory that we discussed earlier.

Calm °Studies have shown that exposure to

nature can reduce stress and increase focus and productivity. Calm unites meditation with sounds and scenes of nature. There are also options to focus on specific types of meditation or resolutions for particular problems. You can play just the nature sounds while you are working as well.

Remaining calm throughout the day, knowing how to re-center yourself when things get stressful, and continuing to grow internally will help you to resolve interpersonal issues as they may arise at work or at home.

Blooming Minds free meditations can be downloaded here

Ava is a wellness consultancy that is focused on burnout prevention and workplace optimization. Ava helps companies and individual professionals to achieve productivity and satisfaction at work through comprehensive lifestyle design initiatives. Ava applies interventions based upon research methodology within the fields of psychology, health promotion, and environmental design in order toto improve the overall state of human capital within the workplace. We focus on that sweet spot where the mind, the body, and the working ecosystem intersect.

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attitude /’atItju:d/ definition - Attitude (noun) a feeling or opinion about something or someone, or a way of behaving that is caused by this.

Attitude is made up of three components: affective (feelings and emotions), behavioural and cognitive (the thoughts and beliefs we have about the object). It’s worth reflecting on the attitudes we have to others which can either be enhancing or damaging our relationships.

We are seeing a greater awareness of relationships in the workplace, especially with focuses on decreasing bullying behaviour and increasing acceptance and tolerance of diversity.

Have you heard the statements about how we need to be more tolerant of each other?

How we must tolerate other cultures?

Other belief systems? Other ways of life?

Is tolerance our highest goal as a society?

In our families? Our friendships? It can sound a little patronising and disrespectful to assume that I can at best “tolerate” or put up with someone’s existence. It can feel

{

as though this “tolerant” attitude might be accompanied by eye rolling and a sideways thrust of the hip. But is this really the best that we can do when we notice differences between ourselves and others?

R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Instead of tolerance, let’s try respect.

Respect for our differences. Respect for their choices. Respect for them. Can we see ourselves as being separate enough to be allowed to have our own identities and therefore make different choices? And yet realise that we are similar in that we are all just working through life, doing the best we can to be true to ourselves, just as others are also doing their best to be true to themselves. Their differences are not about you. How they live their life, what they believe in, who they pray to, or who they fall in love with is not about you at all. So don’t get all up inside someone else’s business. Be mindful of your own business and respect whatever life others have chosen to live for themselves.

Tasha Broomhall “Self-Absorption in all its forms kills empathy, let alone compassion.

When we focus on ourselves our world contracts as our problems and preoccupations loom large. But when we focus on others our world expands. Our own problems drift to the periphery of the mind and so seem smaller, and we increase our capacity for connection – or compassionate action” Daniel Goleman, Social Intelligence

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Unplugging

Restoring Calm, Focus and Energy

Unplugging Every 90 Minutes I know you’re probably saying “How am I supposed to unplug every 90 minutes? I don’t have time for that, I’m way too busy!”

Most of us have fallen into the trap of conventional thinking that to be productive we just need to work harder. There’s no denying that your average working day isn’t going to get any easier. In fact, we’re experiencing it getting busier and busier.

We all have a sense of our own energy levels, whether we feel productive or not, whether we’re alert and exited, or tired and drowsy.

Most of the time we tend to ignore these signals simply because we don’t understand them.

Research suggests that our energy functions in cycles called ‘Ultradian Rhythms’ or natural cycles that take place roughly every 90 minutes throughout the day (also known as the “Basic Rest-Activity Cycle”).

Why every 90 minutes?

Ground-breaking sleep researcher Nathan Kleitmen discovered that our brains can only focus for a maximum of 90 to 120 minutes before needing a break. Taking mental activity beyond this point dramatically decreases task effectiveness. Suddenly making clusters of mistakes, losing focus easily, creativity and problem solving taking a dive, becoming restless and easily agitated... Sound familiar? These are all signs you’ve just reached the end of your activity cycle and it’s time to take a break.

Hitting the Wall!

We all know what it’s like to ‘Hit the Wall’.

When we do, we usually try and find artificial ways to pump up our energy: Grab a coffee (again...!), head for the snack machine or the office snack jar (sugar and carb hit) or perhaps we just keep pushing through, purely relying on our body’s stress hormones (Adrenalin and Cortisol). These are all Energy Killers! What we need are Energy Builders.

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Rest, Restore, Re-Energize So how do I access these rhythms?

Take ‘Thinking’ out of the equation. Set a timer for 90 minutes (from the moment you formally start your first task of the day).

When it sounds, don’t give yourself any time to think about it, simply stop what you’re doing mid task, get up and walk away out of sight of what you’ve been doing.

Take 10 minutes away from whatever it is you were doing and ‘Change Your State’. This simply means changing your mood, changing your position or physical location, turning away from the thing that is causing you to feel stressed, agitated, unfocused etc. Do something other than that. This is largely why smokers head out frequently for a cigarette.

They’re simply seeking a state change. This is a negative, energy killing form of a state change, but a state change none the less.

Another way of looking at it is as a ‘Pattern Interrupt’. Basically this is the action of interrupting an activity or thought process

abruptly, causing the brain to temporarily go into a ‘Reset Mode’. This creates a small mental gab in which the mind is open to influence.

Inserting a positive activity into that gap is akin to installing a small program. This small installed program in the form of a positive, calming or naturally energizing experience, tricks your brain into an immediate rested state (breaking the cycle of the negative).

Work smarter, not harder...

What the brain and body really needs are physical, mental and emotional Energy Building solutions that restore calm, focus, creativity and critical thinking naturally.

These natural rhythms are already there; all we need to do is access them.

Bradley Hunter

Fitness and Lifestyle Mentor Bradley Hunter, combines his previous Military service with more than 17 years’ experience as a Health and Fitness Professional, to teach people how to discover their true potential selves. Marrying holistic sustainable lifestyle changes with a scientific approach to movement and health, Bradley provides practical integrated ‘Whole-Life” solutions for individuals wanting to explore a holistic approach to mind, body and lifestyle.

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testimonials I would like to express our gratitude and appreciation to you on a job well done…your presentation was informative, thought provoking and interesting. Students who attended the course were impressed by your professionalism and knowledge. Comments such as, “you have no idea how much this has helped me”, “I learned how to handle stress more effectively and how to recognize it”. These comments attest to your level of ability in delivering the material. Students were left with a lasting impression that they will take into their future careers. Thank you A. Watkins, Notre Dame University

Very practical and informative course. Excellent way to upskill front line leaders in mental health management in the workplace.

Received feedback from other participants that this should always be offered to new supervisors. Great job.

J. Bruce, Human Resources, Cliffs

I was hooked from the beginning to end. I was continuously learning new stuff about how I can help others and myself.

Practical tools and advice to identify and manage mental illness in the workplace in a way that supports the individual and the business needs. Excellent presentation, good examples, entertaining.

C. Bam, Manager, Department of Commerce

F. Mitchell, CSO, Workpower Inc.

Meet your obligations for managing mental health in the workplace.

Blooming Minds partners with your organisation to:

Build AWARENESS Teach SKILLS Change BEHAVIOURS Training Programs that Save Lives.

Talk to us today about how we can help you: www.bloomingminds.com.au

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