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What is Mental Health and Mental Illness?

When searching for information on mental wellbeing, mental health or mental illness, you will frequently find the terms are used interchangeably but you should be aware that they represent different concepts that may or may not overlap.

Mental Wellbeing Mental Health Mental Illness
Mental welling is comprised of domains that act as mental health indicators, including:

  • Emotional well-being such as perceived life satisfaction, happiness, cheerfulness, peacefulness.
  • Psychological well-being such as self-acceptance, personal growth including openness to new experiences, optimism, hopefulness, purpose in life, control of one’s environment, spirituality, self-direction, and positive relationships.
  • Social well-being such as social acceptance, beliefs in the potential of people and society as a whole, personal self-worth and usefulness to society, sense of community.
“A state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.” Mental Health is the focus of the current Toolkit.

The phrase ‘mental health problems and illnesses’ represents “a range of behaviours, thoughts and emotions that can result in some level of distress or impairment in areas such as school, work, social and family interactions, and the ability to live independently.”

“A recognized, medically diagnosable illness that results in the significant impairment of an individual’s cognitive, affective or relational abilities. Mental disorders result from biological, developmental and/or psychosocial factors and can be managed using approaches comparable to those applied to physical disease (i.e., prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation).”

omhMental health and mental illness are not mutually exclusive concepts. The Mental Health/Illness Continuum demonstrates this (Figure 1), suggesting that they are fluid with a person being able to move from one quadrant to another next depending on how life is treating them and how they are reacting to it at that moment.

Let’s start to think about our own mental health and define it. What quadrant do you feel best represents your current state of mental health and mental illness?

Are you still not sure what your mental health status is? The Canadian Mental Health Association believes that there are some characteristics we can identify in ourselves and determine if they need improvement to build our mental health buffer, including: ability to enjoy life, resilience, your ability to balance, self-actualization, and flexibility. Take the Mental Health Meter to gauge your level of mental health and determine areas you may be able to target for improvement!

Gauge Your Mental Health

Ability to Enjoy Life Meter

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Resilience Meter

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Balance Meter

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Self-actualization Meter

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Flexibility Meter

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To find out more information about mental illness, go to ‘Check Up From the Neck Up’ by the Mood Disorders Association of Ontario

What is Stress and Burnout?

Stress is the response of your body and mind to demands being placed on you. Stress is not an illness! It is a state of being at a particular point in time. Each of us will respond to stress in different ways. Two people in the same situation may not react in the same way. For one person, the perceived pressure may feel normal, keep them alert, motivated, able to work and learn. However, another person with limited resources and different personal characteristics may become unproductive, burnt out, and moody.

There are many different stressors in each of our lives. Did you know that a stressor can be something like intense light or extreme temperature? Stressors can also be more complex concepts such as divorce or the birth of a new child. It is possible to categorize these things to help you define the current origins of your major or minor stressors. What is providing you with the most stress? Would you consider it an acute or chronic stressor?

The World Health Organization defines work-related stress as “the response people may have when presented with work demands and pressures that are not matched to their knowledge and abilities and which challenge their ability to cope.” As described, pressure in the workplace is unavoidable due to the demands of the contemporary work environment. When the pressure becomes excessive or otherwise unmanageable, it leads to stress. Stress can damage an employee’s health and his/her workplace performance. Excessive stress can lead to mental health issues and is a risk factor for someone who is already vulnerable to developing a mental illness. Targeting our stress and combating it before it leads to mental health issues and mental illness where possible, is the goal.

Take the Stress Knowledge Quiz to see how much you really know!

humancurveAs illustrated in Figure 2, there is a certain amount of stress (arousal) that when increased, makes us more productive. We experience a level of tension that supports us completing work under deadlines and respond to patients and physicians needing to know information quickly. There is a point, though, where we hit the ‘Hump’. This is the peak of our stress meter where productivity becomes less rewarding and we start to feel more uncomfortable. We need to make sure that we are looking for early warning symptoms and signs that suggest we are becoming overloaded, burnt out, or experiencing mental health issues.

The Mayo Clinic defines burnout in the workplace as a “state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion caused by long-term exposure to demanding work situations. Burnout is the cumulative result of stress.” According to the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care, there is a lack of agreement in the definition of burnout as well as the symptoms associated with it. However, they suggest that there are three main symptom domains that are considered to be signs of burnout syndrome:

For more information about burnout and its relation to depression, see the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care.

If you or your organization has access to journal articles, see the following systemic literature reviews on Burnout:

How Stressed Am I? Identify It!

We aren’t always good at identifying signs of stress in ourselves. In fact, sometimes it is easier for another person to point them out! That’s because stress and mental health issues can cloud our thinking and recollection of situations. In other cases, we might not have the words to put our feelings together. A number of factors can lead to work-related mental health problems, including social factors, your socioeconomic conditions, your social values (such as performance and individualism), individual factors (personality characteristics), and personal and family difficulties.

If you are having trouble describing how you are feeling, check out this ‘What Are You Feeling’ worksheet

More recently, there has been greater focus placed on stress and mental health, mainly how work is organized and types of workplace social relationships. Overwork, lack of recognition, poor or tense workplace relationships (including psychological harassment), lack of input into decisions, and inadequate circulation of information can all threaten the mental health of employees.

Health Canada states that are some identifiable stress triggers we can recognize in our bodies. Our bodies undergo, specifically, three stages in response to a stressful event:

  1. Mobilizing Energy – Your body will release adrenaline. You should listen to your heartbeat as it will become faster as well as your breathing. However, this happens during both good and bad stress so you should look out for the second stage to determine if you are going into the ‘distress’ phase of the Human Function Curve.
  2. Consuming Energy Stores – After a while in the mobilizing energy stage, your body will react to this prolonged heightened state. It will begin to release stored sugars and fats, making you feel driven but also pressured and tired. It is in this state that you may also experience anxiety, negative thinking, memory loss, and experience a lower immune system (increased chances of cold or flu).
  3. Draining Energy Stores – Prolonged exposure in a negative stressful state results in a supply and demand imbalance in your body. Your physical and mental requirements to maintain your mental health buffer start to break down. You may experience insomnia, errors in judgment, and personality changes. The effects of the stress and mental health issues may result in you developing a serious illness such as heart disease or be at risk of mental illness.

More specific signs of being over-stressed may include the following:

  • Feelings of irritability, sadness or guilt
  • Change in sleep patterns
  • Change in weight or appetite
  • Difficulty in concentrating or making decisions
  • Negative thinking
  • Loss of interest, enjoyment or energy in something you used to enjoy
  • Restlessness

Take a moment to think about these signs in relation to your mind and body. Are you experiencing any of the signs of being over-stressed?

The Canadian Mental Health Association British Columbia Division presents a different way to look for signs of stress. Click here to check it out!

For an overview on stress, see the Mental Health at Work: From defining to Solving the Problem booklets

According to the American Institute of Stress, our personality types in relation to stress fall into one of the following categories. Let’s examine the list and see what we can learn about ourselves in the context of stress reactions in the workplace.

  1. The Overworked Underling – This person experiences high demand and low control of their time.
  2. The Frustrated Go-Getter – This person is not receiving enough credit or compensation for the work they do.
  3. The Castaway – This person is largely ignored. They feel they have no input or contribution to plans.
  4. The Doormat – This person takes repeated abuse from management, customers, or both.  These people tend to say “yes” too often as a way to get people to like them.
  5. The Tech Prisoner – This person is too accessible. No one needs to be accessible 24/7, 365 days a year.  Find the off button on your gadgets.
  6. The Burnout – This person is exhausted all the time.  It sounds simple, but many people don’t – TAKE TIME OFF.
  7. The Bully Target – Bullies are not limited to the playground.  Bullies can be bosses, co-workers, or even employees.  No one should suffer from workplace bullies and there are ways to stop the bullying and take back your control.  Your Human Resources Department is a good place to start.
  8. The Wronged Victim – This person feels that the boss plays favorites and that they are not the favorite.  The workplace lacks organizational justice.

Pick which one best fits your personality type

Is my Reaction out of Balance?

As every situation is different, it can be hard to determine if our reaction to stressful situations is appropriate or not. It is always helpful to have something we can gauge our responses against to help us make a more informed decision about what to do. The Great-West Life Centre for Mental Health in the Workplace has provided a useful table to help understand our common reactions to various workplace situations.

If you find that many of your reactions are out of balance to the situation, you can search the Mental Health Toolkit for more tools for support or obtain outside guidance.

Something Happens Reaction that may be out of balance Reaction that may indicate a more balanced approach
Your manager comments on an error in your work.
  • You feel extreme anger at your manager.
  • You feel guilty about the error for days.
  • You can’t sleep that night.
  • You call in sick to avoid seeing your manager.
  • You ask questions to understand what happened.
  • You discuss strategies with your manager to prevent the error from happening again.
  • You discuss with your manager how criticism affects you, and ways that are easier for you to hear feedback.
Something Happens Reaction that may be out of balance Reaction that may indicate a more balanced approach
A co-worker strongly disagrees with a new idea you have put forward at a team meeting.
  • You feel very hurt and angry with the co-worker.
  • You cry in the washroom, feeling alone and misunderstood.
  • You share gossip about the co-worker.
  • You decide not to share your other ideas at team meetings.
  • You let your co-worker know how you’re feeling in a productive way, e.g. “I feel surprised that in the meeting you said my idea wouldn’t work.”
  • You ask questions to get more information from the co-worker about why there is disagreement.
  • You look for solutions to the disagreement.
  • You remind yourself that your ideas are important, and that disagreement between people is normal.
Something Happens Reaction that may be out of balance Reaction that may indicate a more balanced approach
Your work is piling up and you know you are going to miss an important deadline.
  • You can’t eat because you are so tense.
  • You are unable to focus on work for long periods of time and do “busy work” such as surfing the internet, going for coffee, or shuffling papers, to pass the time.
  • After the deadline has passed, you complain to your manager that you didn’t have enough time and that it isn’t your fault.
  • You feel very anxious and panicky as you think about future deadlines, and the pile of unfinished work.
  • As your work is piling up, you take a few moments to step back and reorganize.
  • You share your concerns with your manager that you don’t think you can meet the deadline. You also share possible solutions to the problem.
  • If the deadline will still be missed, as soon as you know, you share this information with your manager.
  • Together with your manager, you make plans to avoid missed deadlines in future.

I Want to Know What Other People Experience

We all have questions we want answered that sometimes simple text on a website can’t satisfy. Sometimes we need the personal touch associated with hearing and seeing how other people have struggled and addressed mental health issues. ‘Working Through It’ is an innovative compilation of videos highlighting the experiences of Canadians answering questions and sharing experiences of their mental health pathway.

Click here to go to their website.

85% of respondents agree that workers with mental health conditions can be just as productive as other workers if they have access to the right supports (Ipsos Reid, 2012).

Here are some of the most common questions people are seeking that ‘Working Through It’ has answered

How do I stay well?

How can I cope better at work?

Taking Steps to Manage your Mental Health

There are many websites out there that outline ways to manage your stress. What they don’t provide on a regular basis are the tools and techniques required to Enact Change. To save you time in searching for resources, this Toolkit provides you with the American Psychological Association’s ‘Taking Steps to Manage Stress’ and with relevant links added for you to Take Charge of your mental health today.

Here are some steps you can take to manage your stress and improve your mental health:

Track your stressors. Keep a journal for a week or two to identify which situations create the most stress and how you respond to them. Record your thoughts, feelings, and information about the environment, including the people and circumstances involved, the physical setting, and how you reacted. Did you raise your voice? Get a snack from the vending machine? Go for a walk? Taking notes can help you find patterns among your stressors and your reactions to them. Here are different tracking mechanisms. Pick which one is best for you!

Develop healthy responses. Instead of attempting to fight stress with fast food or alcohol, do your best to make healthy choices when you feel the tension rise. Exercise is a great stress-buster. Yoga can be an excellent choice, but any form of physical activity is beneficial. Also make time for hobbies and favorite activities. Whether it’s reading a novel, going to concerts or playing games with your family, make sure to set aside time for the things that bring you pleasure. Getting enough good-quality sleep is also important for effective stress management. Build healthy sleep habits by limiting your caffeine intake late in the day and minimizing stimulating activities, such as computer and television use, at night.

Establish boundaries. In today’s digital world, it’s easy to feel pressure to be available 24 hours a day. Establish some work-life boundaries for yourself. That might mean making a rule not to check email from home in the evening, or not answering the phone during dinner. Although people have different preferences when it comes to how much they blend their work and home life, creating some clear boundaries between these realms can reduce the potential for work-life conflict and the stress that goes with it.

Take time to recharge. To avoid the negative effects of chronic stress and burnout, we need time to replenish and return to our pre-stress level of functioning. This recovery process requires “switching off” from work by having periods of time when you are neither engaging in work-related activities nor thinking about work. That’s why it’s critical that you disconnect from time to time, in a way that fits your needs and preferences. Don’t let your vacation days go to waste. When possible, take time off to relax and unwind, so you come back to work feeling reinvigorated and ready to perform at your best. When you’re not able to take time off, get a quick boost by turning off your smartphone and focusing your attention on non-work activities for a while.

Learn how to relax. Techniques such as meditation, deep breathing exercises and mindfulness (a state in which you actively observe present experiences and thoughts without judging them) can help melt away stress. Start by taking a few minutes each day to focus on simple activities like breathing, walking or enjoying a meal. The skill of being able to focus purposefully on a single activity without distraction will get stronger with practice and you’ll find that you can apply it to many different aspects of your life.

Talk to your supervisor. Healthy employees are typically more productive, so your boss has an incentive to create a work environment that promotes employee well-being. Start by having an open conversation with your supervisor. The purpose of this isn’t to lay out a list of complaints, but rather to come up with an effective plan for managing the stressors you’ve identified, so you can perform at your best on the job. While some parts of the plan may be designed to help you improve your skills in areas such as time management, other elements might include identifying employer-sponsored wellness resources you can tap into, clarifying what’s expected of you, getting necessary resources or support from colleagues, enriching your job to include more challenging or meaningful tasks, or making changes to your physical workspace to make it more comfortable and reduce strain.

Get some support. Accepting help from trusted friends and family members can improve your ability to manage stress. Your employer may also have stress management resources available through an employee assistance program (EAP), including online information, available counselling, and referral to mental health professionals, if needed. If you continue to feel overwhelmed by work stress, you may want to talk to a psychologist or social worker, who can help you better manage stress and change unhealthy behavior.