It seems as though there is a lot more public discussion
about mental health these days. I've read some about fascinating new brain
research that is helping us understand more than ever before about how this
vital organ works, and how its diseases can alter its workings. There is also
growing awareness about conditions such as bipolar, PTSD (post-traumatic stress
disorder), depression, anxiety, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder), substance abuse, and more.
What does that have to do with your business, you ask?
Consider the following:
•
More schools and businesses (especially large
organizations) have put "active shooter" procedures into place to
protect their people from the possibility of a deranged and suicidal killer.
•
The shortage of employees is complicated by an
increasing number of failed drug screenings by applicants, and deaths from
heroin abuse are alarmingly high.
• Legislative mandates have shifted toward mental health "parity", meaning in theory that mental
health gets the same coverage a person could get for medical or surgical care.
If you offer employee health care benefits, you are paying for that expanded
coverage.
•
What is the impact on your business when an
employee is alcohol or drug impaired, depressed, abusive towards other team
members, or withdrawn from them? Your business efficiency goes down, and
employees are less engaged.
And how about the impact of all of this on you as the owner
of your business? It's just another thing to add to the pile of stressors that
already come with business ownership. Yet because we business owners are a
proud and independent lot, we believe that being an entrepreneur means that we
are somehow gifted with the amazing ability to handle piles of stress with calm
resiliency and decisive execution all by ourselves. It turns out, not so much.
When I started my coaching business, I joined a local BNI
chapter, and met another member who is a psychotherapist. Over time, coming to
understand her work and her business, I began to see mental health in a new
light. Instead of thinking that people with mental health issues were
"crazy" and should just straighten themselves up, she got me thinking
about a different viewpoint. She explains that the brain is an organ, just like
the heart, or liver, or lungs. If those organs are diseased, we will
automatically seek medical help to cure the disease. Well, the brain can be
diseased as well. So why do we balk at seeking help to cure or manage the
problem? Why do we stigmatize those with mental health, but sympathize and
embrace those with other organ diseases?
I share all this in the hope that perhaps these thoughts
will be a bit of a revelation for you, as they were for me. Two thoughts are
worth taking from this that relate to your business. One, be alert to the
mental health of your employees. I know, neither you nor I are experts in this,
nor do we always know how best to approach and deal with someone's
brain-related disorder. But we owe it to ourselves, our business, and our
employees to seek advice and help for them when we notice that something isn't
right.
Second, consider how best to take care of your own mental
health. It does your business no good, and it does your life no good to try to
go it alone. Seek advice, don’t hide from it. Taking care of yourself is the
first step to taking care of your business.
