Mental Ill-health was a Concern in Australia, Long Before Most of us Learned What a Coronavirus is.

There is a lot of talk about the impact of COVID-19 on mental health at the moment, with lots of attention being appropriately placed on how the pandemic will impact on us in the short, medium and long terms. But, the thing is, mental ill-health was already a rising concern in Australia, long before any of us knew what a coronavirus was, had heard of the town of Wuhan or understood the term, “flattening the curve”. According to a draft report prepared by the Australian Productivity Commission in 2019 (https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/mental-health#report), the average prevalence of mental illness in Australia is above the OECD average, with approximately 50% of Australians experiencing a mental illness in their lifetime.

Like many issues in our society, the challenge of rising mental ill-health is reflected in trends in our workplaces. Last year, one of Australia’s largest insurers, Allianz, produced a report on the rising incidence of mental illness in the workplace and identified several of the causes of this. This document is well worth a read because it highlights some of the factors that contribute to mental ill-health that are likely to become exacerbated in our current climate.

https://www.allianz.com.au/images/internet/aalaus/Allianz_Awareness_Into_Action.pdf

However, more importantly, the report also outlines the types of actions that are likely to assist employers to reduce the likelihood and impact of mental health concerns in their employees. The report outlines initiatives such as mental health education, employee assistance programmes and collaborating with mental health experts as ways that employers can take effective action. It is so important that we focus on how to fix the problem so that we can all work towards better outcomes. If you would like help improving the mental health and wellbeing of your employees, please feel free to reach out to us here at HeadSmart Psychology.