Taking a Day Off for Mental Health: Setting All Levels Back to Normal
In the current world of remote and hybrid work, the importance of mental health has never been more significant. A recent poll shows that over half of UK workers have pretended to be suffering from a physical ailment to hide their mental illness, highlighting the stigma and secrecy surrounding mental health in the workplace.
A mental health day is a day off work spent relieving stress and focusing on self-care. These days off are particularly beneficial in remote or hybrid settings, where isolation and loneliness are common and linked to depression and other mental health problems.
According to the Global Workforce of the Future Report 2022, over half of all workers surveyed do not think highly of how their employer is addressing mental health issues. However, mental health days can help counteract these concerns by enhancing employee well-being, boosting productivity, and fostering a supportive workplace culture.
Mental health days provide crucial breaks for self-care and managing mental health challenges, which helps maintain a healthy work-life balance irrespective of physical workspace. They also offer employees the opportunity to engage in restorative activities, such as meditation, exercise, or nature walks, which have proven mental health benefits and can improve focus once back at work.
The benefits of mental health days in a remote or hybrid work environment include:
- Reducing stress and preventing burnout by providing time for self-care.
- Improving productivity and focus by allowing employees to recharge.
- Mitigating isolation and loneliness, common in remote work, by encouraging breaks and wellness activities.
- Enhancing morale and job satisfaction through a culture of support for mental health.
- Supporting emotional regulation and social connection needs that are harder to meet remotely.
These benefits make mental health days an important part of supporting employee well-being in modern flexible work arrangements. In fact, companies that prioritize mental health care may have an advantage in the competition for top talent.
What to do during a mental health day will depend on the person. Some may want to do very little, while others may want to catch up with people to talk things through, and others might want to do something completely different and exciting. The key is to prioritise self-care and mental health.
Reducing stress and resetting the mind shouldn't be an occasion, it should be a daily occurrence. Employers who support mental health days foster a more supportive workplace culture, increasing job satisfaction and employee engagement by showing they value mental health as much as productivity. This positive environment is essential in remote or hybrid models where social interactions and informal support are less frequent.
The annual productivity loss due to depression and anxiety is worth $1 trillion, and an estimated 12 billion working days are lost globally every year due to these issues. Eliminating the stigma and secrecy surrounding mental health in the workplace would go a long way in resolving the issue of workers hiding their mental illness.
In summary, mental health days are a preventative measure, taken to regroup before reactive measures are needed. They are an essential tool in promoting employee well-being and productivity in the modern world of remote and hybrid work.
- Incorporating science-backed practices like meditation, exercise, or nature walks during mental health days can improve focus and productivity for employees working remotely, as proven by numerous studies in health-and-wellness.
- As global workforces become more flexible, companies that prioritize mental health care, including offering mental health days, may have a competitive advantage in attracting top talent, considering the significant annual productivity loss and global workdays lost due to depression and anxiety.
