5 Fears That Stop Managers Managing Mental Health

 

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Many  managers  are sympathetic to the needs of staff.  They are able to support staff members and help them manage mental health conditions. Unfortunately, there are also managers who think that they should not have to manage mental health conditions. Managers who think that managing mental health is the job of HR or Occupational Health. There are also managers who think that if they just ignore a staff member’s difficulties, they will just go away. Does this sound like a familiar story?

In this blog post, I am going to share with you 5 things that prevent managers from managing mental health. I am also going to tell you how you can overcome these obstacles.  I have worked with over a thousand managers, across all sectors to help managers manage mental health.  The same themes come up time and time again. Managers have 5 fears associated with Mental Health and if you can help them overcome these fears, they will learn to effectively manage staff with Mental Health conditions.

 

1, Mental Health is Scary

‘Time to Change’, ‘Mind’ and other mental health charities, have carried out a lot of good work to minimise the stigma around mental health. There is, however, still a sense of ‘smoke and mirrors’ about mental health. The press still sensationalise those few occasions, where someone with a serious mental health condition such as schizophrenia, kills an innocent shopper in a supermarket. Unfortunately, these negative images help create fear  and lead managers to believe that mental health conditions are dangerous and unpredictable.

2, You Need to be an Expert to Manage Mental Health

Managers believe that they are unequipped to manage mental health. They believe that if a staff member is experiencing a mental health condition, then it should be managed by a mental health expert. Managers absolve themselves of any responsibility for the staff member. They assume that HR or OH will take responsibility and ‘solve’ the problem.

3, How do I know if a staff member is experiencing a Mental Health Condition?

Managers do not necessarily recognise the signs indicating that a staff member may be experiencing a mental health condition. They may suspect that a staff member is experiencing some difficulties but they do not have the confidence to broach the subject with them. Consequently, they may ignore it. This is a problem, as mental health conditions, like physical health conditions, are best treated early and do not get better by being ignored.

 

4, What If I Say the Wrong Thing?

Managers are often frightened that they may say the wrong thing and make the situation worse. In reality, any question/observation made with good intent is unlikely to make the situation worse. If the staff member is aware that they are struggling, they may well appreciate that fact that someone else has noticed and is offering to help. If the staff member is not aware that they are behaving differently, then a comment from their manager may well cause them to reflect and realise that they may need to seek professional help.

5, You must treat everyone equally

When managers know that a staff member is experiencing a mental health condition, they often struggle to make the necessary reasonable adjustments. They are conditioned into thinking that they must treat all staff equally and can’t allow one staff member flexibilities that others can’t have . This situation can be further compounded when the managers has experience of managing staff with mental health conditions, previously. The manager may think that as the previous staff member did not need flexibility with a particular issue e.g their start time, then the second staff member with a mental health condition should not need it either.

 

Why are Line Manager’s Crucial in Managing Mental Health?

Line managers have a vital role to play in managing mental health within the workplace. Firstly, they work closely with their staff members and are in a good position to notice if anyone’s productivity starts to dip or if they start behaving uncharacteristically. Secondly, they know the work that the staff member carries out and are therefore well placed to work with the staff member to identify any necessary adjustments. They also have a responsibility to support staff.

 

Overcoming Obstacles to Managers Managing Mental Health

There are 3 steps that you need to take to help your managers manage staff with mental health conditions:

  1. Raise their Awareness of Anxiety and Depression,
  2. Train Them to Spot the Early Warning Signs of Anxiety/Depression and How to Hold a Supportive Conversation,
  3. Support them in Managing Staff with Mental Health Conditions.

 

1, Raising Awareness of Common Mental Health Conditions

Firstly, you need to raise their awareness of stress and the two most common mental health conditions that they are likely to encounter in the workplace i.e. Anxiety and Depression. There are many ways in which this can be done, depending on your resources. If you have the resources to do it, you could hold workshops, to educate manages about common mental health conditions. Equally, there are many other ways in which awareness of common mental health conditions could be raised, on a small budget e.g.

  • Posters in the canteen/staff room/communal areas
  • Information on the intranet
  • Information in a staff magazine
  • ‘Mental health days’

 

2, Train Managers to Spot the Early Warning Signs and Hold a Supportive Conversation

Managing mental health is not rocket science and  managers need to recognise that, managing mental health, is similar to managing physical health. When a staff member is experiencing a common mental health problem, there are visible signs that can be recognised by any manager.  You should educate your line managers  to recognise  these signs.

You should also train your line Managers to hold a supportive conversation with a staff member that they are concerned about. This gives managers the opportunity to think about how they might approach this type of conversation, what they might say etc. This helps managers overcome the fear that they might make the situation worse. It also builds their confidence to want to help staff members with mental health conditions.

Managers also need to understand that experiencing depression or anxiety is a personal experience. If 30 staff members had a common cold, they would all experience the same symptoms i.e. a runny nose, sneezing etc. If 30 staff members were experiencing depression, however, they would all have slightly different symptoms and need different adjustments. This is because depression and anxiety have a wide range of symptoms and staff members will experience a sub-set of these symptoms, which will vary from one person to another. This means that any support or adjustments made will need to meet the particular needs of each staff member, so the concept of ‘treating all staff members equally’ does not apply.

 

3, Support Managers who are Managing Staff with Mental Health Conditions

When managers are supporting staff with mental health conditions, it can have a negative impact on their own mental health. Organisations need to be vigilant about this and ensure that there is support available for managers. The support  can be varied but could include support from HR/OH/the line manager’s line manager. Equally, it is often helpful to buddy up, line managers, managing mental health conditions, with other managers who either have prior experience of managing staff with mental health conditions or who are currently managing staff with mental health conditions.

 

Summary

All managers can be trained and supported to manage mental health effectively but there are 5 key obstacles that you will have to overcome to give managers the confidence to manage mental health. There are three keys to overcoming these obstacles, which are: (1)Raise Awareness of common mental health conditions (i.e. depression and anxiety), (2) Train managers to spot the early warning signs that a staff member is experiencing a mental health problem and to hold a supportive conversation with the staff member,(3) Support managers in managing staff with mental health conditions.

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