MENTAL HEALTH AND PERFORMANCE

Mental health is not merely absence of mental illness. It is much more than that. Mental health is state of wellness experienced in mind and emotions. While it is true, that mental health plays an important role in holistic wellness , it is also strangely true that most of us, ignore our own mental health.

Why do we ignore mental health ? Confusing mental health with spiritual health ; ill informed about maintaining mental health ; lack of importance for mental health in various spaces such as annual medical checks conducted in schools as well as organizations; absence of an integrated approach including physicians as well as mental health professionals for psychosomatic ailments; absence of insurance of mental illnesses; stigma surrounding visiting a mental health professional may be some of the reasons, that may be readily acknowledged by a large population.

While we , as a society are more transparent with the limitations in our physical health and aggressively vocal about ways to maintain and enhance physical health, unfortunately, we seem to look the other way when it comes to mental health.

Mental health of an individual has a direct impact on his/ her overall functioning and significantly on his/ her workplace performance. Well being of an individual , according to Positive Psychology may be determined by his/ her emotional state, his/ her ability to be engaged wholly in his activities; his ability to nurture healthy relationships ; his ability to find a meaning in his functioning and his accomplishments and how he/ she recognize them.

In short, the Well Being theory of Positive Psychologyidentifies that the five components , Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning in Life and Accomplishments as measurable components to well being.

To explore and dwell upon the relevance of PERMA in a workplace setting –

Positive Emotions :

·A person adapts well in a work place setting if he/ she experiences positive emotions at workplace.

·He/ she is able to recognize the positive and negative emotions that he/ she is experiencing , and handle the same effectively and does not allow the experience to interfere with his functioning.

·He/ she is able to appreciate the emotions being experienced by his colleagues.

Engagement :

·Any individual performs at his highest potential when he/ she is engaged in his/ her task.

·However, many a time, due to various circumstances many may not be in roles that appeal to them . But if he/ she is able to find ways and means of being engaged in such tasks, his creativity strengthens his ability to function so.

·An engaged person produces effective results. Effective results directly display his state of well being .

Relationships:

·Maintaining healthy relationships is an essential factor that defines workplace performance.

·While many indulge in superficial relationships,the same may not offer a state of well being , while healthy relationships not only improves his/ her performance, but it also directly enhances his/ her overall well being.

·Healthy relationships involves respecting self as well as others wholly and the ability to be able to differentiate the actions from the person.

Meaning in Life:

·Being able to find a meaning in his/ her life and the experiences it offers has an important role to play in one’s workplace performance.

·A person who finds his/ her life meaningful will be able to relate to every insignificant task as meaningful and will experience a sense of identity in every role.

·He/ she willexperience a sense of pride for the role being played at workplace irrespective ofhis/ her status / designation.

Accomplishment :

·Experiencing a sense of accomplishment in every small task is important to experience authentic happiness. Experiencing authentic happiness directly indicates the person’s state of well being.

·The ability to feel accomplished in every single task reduces self criticism and encourages self motivation.

·A self motivated person is surely a healthy performer at workplace.

The well being theory is extremely essential for an industry’s growth as individuals with a healthy PERMA quotient perform well at workplace. This is directly related to various important factors that determine a healthy thriving industry . Some of them are reduced/ minimal attrition, motivated teams, strong leadership, focused goals, realistic goals, humility to rectify mistakes, appreciation for colleagues and peers, reduced absenteeism, reduced/ minimal harassment at workplace , healthy feedback system.

Strategies to ensure the state of well being are simple strategies that may be practicedas part of one’s daily life. Receptivity and willingness to bring a change in one’s mind set are the only two important conditions that may be required to start working in this space. It is simply letting go of old habits and adopting new strategies that are healthier and easier to imbibe. What is more important,the path to state of well being enables you to be more intrinsically connected with your own self. Isn’t this a reward by itself?

Is it time to focus on employee’s better mental health status in order to improve the organization’s performance? Is it more economical to promote better mental health status at work to increase the overall production ? Is it simpler to begin practice ofthe Well Being Theory to increase theannual output?

Maybe it is time for a detour – a detour towards long term growth and wellness!