We are living in uncertain times. In this fast-changing world, we face many stressors on a daily basis. These stressors lead to anxiety, depression, and many other health concerns. It’s important to have a mental health management plan to reduce these stressors.
You know work is a basic part of our life. It’s a source of your income. You make new friends at your workplace. Having a fulfilling job is great for your mental health and general well-being.
But Why is mental health important? You must be familiar with the feeling when life gets on top of you. Sometimes, it’s due to workload. Other times, it’s a feud with your boss. Or workplaces can be challenging due to your introverted nature. Even if you love what you do, you can feel that pressure.
If we talk about Pakistan, the bureaucracy has a high rate of work-related stress leading to depression. Bureaucracy, can you imagine? If this is the situation of the cream of Pakistan, one can only think of an ordinary individual’s stresses.
Let’s know the ways you can understand mental health management at the workplace, map out your stressors and know how to deal with them.
Table of Contents
What are the Workplace Stressors?
Workplace stressors can be the events that can trigger your anxiety and you start feeling a burden. It can lead to burnout. You should know of these stressors so that you can deal with them effectively:
Lesser Salaries
One of the most prominent features of workplace stress is related to low salaries. You think of your work as valuable, but you are getting paid only minimal amounts for this. This can lead to great stress.
Excessive Workload
You go through a lot of work. You feel as if you need more than 24 hours to complete a day’s work. The excessive workload gets in the way of taking care of your own self and managing time for your friends and family.
No Growth Opportunities
If you are at a job, where growth opportunities are rare, productivity is low and motivation in work-related tasks is absent, you can feel the stress getting to your mind. This becomes hectic when you are a man of learning. Being unable to find new advancements in your work can make you stressed and restless.
Unchallenging Work
You feel your work is unchallenging. It doesn’t feel engaging anymore. You feel bored of it. You may start feeling demotivation, anxiety and sadness, and even depression.
Lack of Social Support
If you don’t have enough social support, you may feel stressed out at your workplace. This can be due to your colleagues saying ‘Tum Kaam hee Kya kartay ho, Sara din tou bethay rehtay ho’. It can even be your spouse who isn’t satisfied with your income. It is even more problematic for introverts to form healthy connections.
Suggested Read: Introvert Meaning in Urdu: Everything About Introvert vs Extrovert
What Effects do These Stressors Have on You?
Talking about mental health isn’t just a slogan. It’s because mental health is really vulnerable and it gets affected due to prolonged stressors. Have a look at what these stressors can do to you in the long run:
Emotional Impact
Mental health management in the workspace is important because it has a huge impact on your emotional health. Stress, anxiety, and depression stem out of these stressors and make your emotional regulation vulnerable.
Effect on Executive Thinking
Your decision-making ability gets affected. You can’t concentrate properly with so much traffic in your head. Excessive stress affects the Hippocampus in your brain, which leads to memory loss, poor decision-making, and irrational thinking.
Workplace Stress really is a dangerous thing to have, right?
Impact on Your Relationships
You feel workplace stress negatively affects your relationships. You may find it hard to socialize, and even withdraw from your loved ones. At some point, you can even burst out on your family and spouse, and take out all your frustrations, which can lead to even more problems.
A Weakened Immune System
I am not even joking when I tell you the impact of stress on your immune system. It’s terrible. The immune system gets weakened and you are prone to getting more diseases. A common cold and flu become a weekly routine. You easily feel rundown.
That’s why It’s important to take care of yourself and do mental health management in the workspace.
Effects on Physical Health
When you are stressed due to the workplace for a long time, it will start affecting your physical health also. You become vulnerable to heart diseases, and high blood pressure.
You must read about how to prevent your heart from getting sick, and effective measures for a healthy heart at any age.
What Strategies You can Adopt for Mental Health Management?
If you are here, and you have read up till now, you must be eager to know the strategies for managing your mental health in the workplace. Don’t worry, I have got you covered. You need some strategies and a mental health management plan. Let’s explore some ways how to have mental health management in the workspace effectively:
Recognizing Your Stressors
You must know yourself well enough to understand what situations create stress for you. How you respond to the stressors is also an important thing to recognize. This is like a mental health management plan that is essential for your overall well-being.
Developing Healthy Habits
Try to develop healthy habits. Add some exercise in your life. Stretching exercises will help you in releasing stress from your body. Set a time for your favorite hobby every week e.g. cooking your favorite meal, watching a good movie, or reading a good book.
Establishing Work-Life Boundaries
It’s essential to set work-life boundaries because it creates a balance between your personal and professional life. Sometimes, you can’t keep these separate. A therapist can help you more in understanding how to reduce this conflict.
Learning to Relax
Meditation and Yoga can help you in learning to relax and get your mind off of work. If you don’t know much about Yoga, but you are eager to learn and practice it, you must read about the health benefits of Yoga, and why it should be an essential part of your routine.
Communicating With Your Manager
Mental health management in the workspace becomes crucial when you are constantly undermined by your manager/boss. You should never be shy about communicating your concerns to him. If you have any ideas about your work, share them with him. You may even share your fear and doubts about your mental health.
If you don’t feel comfortable with it, talk to your friends., Reach out to people who care about you.
Conclusion
Mental health care should always be your first priority. This cannot be emphasized enough. Remember! Only you are able to manage your mental health because only you know your strengths and limitations. If you feel as If your limit has ended, reach out to a professional. Talking with a therapist is different from talking with your friends and family. A therapist will devise a mental health management plan for you. You can consult the Best Psychologist in Lahore via Healthwire.pk to know the impact of workplace stress on your health and all about mental health management in the workspace You can book an appointment or call (042) 32500989.
