Women in Conversation: prioritising mental health in the workplace

McDonalds recently hosted its latest edition of Women in Conversation Webinar where it discussed Mental Health issues in the workplace and how both employees and employers could navigate around this.

On the panel was Busi Dziba – Managing Director of BonguLwazi Consulting which specialises in Human and Organisational Empowerment in South Africa and across Africa, Polly Tshabalala, a Specialised Clinical Consultant at Kaelo, Boipelo Nkadimeng, an Old Mutual executive, and Michel’le Donnelly from the South African Federation of Mental Health.

The event was convened by Azania Mosaka, a South African actress and media personality.

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The panel discussed the different forms of depression a person can experience and how this will affect them in the workspace. They also focussed on stress and burnout and how to differentiate between the two.

One of the key points they addressed was how working from home brought on a sense of relief for so many, but also a sense of guilt from employees who felt they needed to prove that this way of working was actually to the benefit of the company.

And so pushed themselves to the limit in order to impress and not lose working from home privileges – this in turn lead to burnout.

“It’s important to know that burnout is not the same as stress,” Donelley explained, “Stress is something you can overcome, but burnout is that sense of complete exhaustion and depletion, where one needs to stop and address it.”

Meanwhile, Dziba touched on the mental cost of entrepreneurship.

“It can be a lonely journey for many, especially those who are heading SMMEs without a big team to aid as a sounding board.”

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She went on to say that these entrepreneurs mostly have internal conversations and sometimes, that internal voice is not very kind to oneself.

“There are a number of stresses you experience when running your own SMME, especially that of the knowledge that you are not guaranteed a salary at the end of the month. It is, therefore, important to reach other, speak to other SMME owners, share experiences and reaffirm your purpose,” she said.

Mosaka also advised that it was important to build healthy habits in entrepreneurship, including prioritising your mental well-being.

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Tshabalala advised on the signs to look out for to assess whether you are experiencing a mental struggle.

“The first thing you can do is develop a deep sense of your own self-awareness, in order to recognise when you are more irritable than usual, if your sleep patterns have changed and the level of depletion your energy levels are at.

“Also check in with yourself to ask: Am I hungry? Sometimes we work for so many hours on end and we don’t eat, and that can actually affect your mental health,” she said.

The general consensus between the women was that people need to start getting more comfortable with talking about mental health issues without all the stigma around it in the workplace.

They agreed that HR workers and line managers need to learn the skill of how to help someone who may not be ready to admit they are struggling, too afraid of the cost of disclosure.

They encouraged more companies to create platforms where these issues can be discussed to achieve psychological safely and a better working environment for all.