Sharing colleague’s mental health journeys can be really powerful but organisations need to exercise caution over the timing of when these stories are spread.
This is according to Sarah Pettit, client delivery consultant, Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England, who was speaking on the second afternoon of the Health & Protection IPMI Summit.
Pettit told delegates that hearing from a colleague or senior member of staff about their own mental health journey can be the most impactful way organisations can break down stigma and encourage conversations about mental health.
“Hearing from somebody, a colleague at any level of an organisation, speak openly about their own experience just brings it to life that this can affect anyone,” Pettit said.
“Just because somebody can come across as a really popular person who has it all together, but everybody has challenges and hearing people speak about it openly is what makes it okay for other people to then speak about it or go and get help.”
But Pettit added how these stories are spread should rest on where an organisation is in their journey around speaking about mental health.
“If it’s very early days it’s probably quite a difficult ask for somebody to speak openly about mental health if it’s an organisation where not much has been done around raising awareness more generally,” she continued.
“Just so that you’re giving your story out to people who have a bit of understanding about what mental health is, in terms of safety I think that’s important.
“Working with the person to find out if they’re comfortable that it’s a good time for them to be sharing.”