Mental Health Day is an annual day of significance and this year the theme is ‘Look after your mental health, Australia’.
There’s no doubt that so many factors are affecting people’s mental health at the moment. From Covid to fires and floods, along with a cost of living, housing shortages and cost of doing business crisis, Australian’s resilience is being tested to the maximum.
Our own research has identified that three quarters of retailers are experiencing, stress, anxiety and depression.
As Australia’s largest private employer of 1.4 million employees, Retailers have a significant role to play in both looking after their own mental health, while also looking after the people they are responsible for.
That’s why we have launched our new online member resource, brining together research and insights from experts, at retail.org.au/mental-wellbeing
These retail-specific resources complement resources provided by Safe Work Australia to help protect workers’ mental health, understand how to manage this responsibility and assessing what psychosocial risks are prevalent in the workplace.
This includes identifying what psychosocial hazards can cause psychological and physical harm such as managing job demands, lack of role clarity, bullying, harassment, including sexual harassment and conflict or poor workplace interactions.
On the other hand, managing your own mental health can be a little more challenging, as it’s less process driven and feelings and stress levels can fluctuate from day-to-day and moment-to-moment.
Generally speaking, if feeling of stress, anxiety or sadness persist for more than two weeks, it’s important to talk with your GP. With one in five Australians experiencing mental health issues, there are many steps and support processes available to help people thrive again.
Providing support and reaching out for support are the key issues in managing mental health on a long-term basis.
