“85% of individuals felt stigma was still a problem in the workplace and prevented people from reaching out for necessary support” (Dunkley, 2018)
Instigating mental health peer support programmes into an organisation can help challenge stigma and create a healthy organisational culture. Peer support programmes are cost effective and can help reach staff that are in remote locations or have limited access to psychosocial support. “85% of individuals felt stigma was still a problem in the workplace and prevented people from reaching out for necessary support” (Dunkley, 2018). Another factor preventing staff from reaching out for support is due to feelings of ‘guilt’. One aid worker informed me it took her five years before she reached out for help after suffering from vicarious trauma symptoms. Due to the time it took her to get support her vicarious trauma had now become a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. She said to me, ‘I felt guilty if I informed anyone I was suffering. How could I complain, when I was faced with such despair in my work, and others were suffering from so much more than me?’ A manager that had gone through organisational restructuring and had to make some of his team’s roles redundant, had found the process very stressful. Previously he had been working to a tight deadline to complete a campaign he was working on supporting individuals who had been falsely imprisoned. By the time he came to see FD Consultants his stress had turned into burnout. ‘I would find myself bursting into tears or be overcome with anger at the slightest thing. I felt constantly on edge, had difficulty sleeping and had awful vivid thoughts of people trying to get to me. It took me several months before I admitted to myself, I need help.’ Peer support programmes train peers to offer early and good quality support which can prevent an individual’s vicarious trauma developing into post-traumatic stress disorder, or stress developing into burnout. If someone goes off work with stress-related issues they may be off work for a few days, if someone goes off work with burnout, they may be off work for weeks or even months and may never return to the workplace. Additionally, research shows that when an individual receives support early, they will recover quicker, therefore preventing long-term health problems. Training mental health peer supporters in the workplace enables staff to feel equipped to recognise the warning signs and symptoms of ill-mental health in themselves or their colleagues and feel prepared to offer the initial support and signposting to specialist psychological services if necessary. In our workshops we provide simple and practical tools to support individuals in distress. The training also builds individual’s resilience and understanding in how best to support themselves when under high levels of stress, whether from workload, the nature of the work, tight deadlines, a rapidly expanding organisation, or organisational restructuring. I visited an Occupational Health service in Nairobi to train staff in responding in a crisis. During the training I referred to the word, ‘Ubuntu’ (a Nguni word and Southern African philosophy) – ‘I am, because we are’. Healing from workplace psychological challenges should be a collaborative process; we need support from mental health informed organisations, with implemented best practice psychological support services and well-trained mental health peer supporters. This alone can create a healthy and resilient organisational culture. Van Der Kolk, a psychiatrist, also refers to the word Ubuntu: ‘my most profound experience with healing from collective trauma was witnessing the work of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was based on the central and guiding principle of Ubuntu…. that denotes sharing what you have, as in “my humanity is inextricably bound up in yours.” Ubuntu recognises that true healing is impossible without recognition of our common humanity and our common destiny.’ (Van Der Kolk, 2014, p. 349). I leave you to reflect on how well your workplace integrates the word ‘Ubuntu’ into the values and principles of the organisation. If you want to help to implement a peer support programme into your organisation, please email [email protected]. Fiona Dunkley (Founder of FD Consultants) For organisations looking for employee psychological support, FD Consultants are the trauma specialists and well-being service who will best deliver a reliable, quick, and bespoke support system in the workplace. FD Consultant’s team of accredited specialists will offer ongoing support to help manage stress, prevent burnout and provide specialist trauma care where required, enabling your staff with the tools to cope, and recover more quickly.
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