It may be something of an artificial calendar marker, but ‘Blue Monday’ today is nevertheless an opportunity for employers to be reviewing and revisiting the mental health support they are offering to their teams throughout the year, argues Debra Clark.
Today (20 January) is so-called ‘Blue Monday’. However, employers should be using this calendar marker not as a single day to take action to offer additional support on mental health and wellbeing to employees but as a springboard for taking action for the whole of the rest of the year.
Said to be the most depressing day of the year, the formula for Blue Monday is based on the weather, debt levels, time since holidays, and failing resolutions. But these and other issues can arise at any time and lead to mental health issues throughout the year.
The message, therefore, is that employers must give mental health the same support and attention throughout the entire year.
Make sure support is in place
Employers, first, should check what mental health support they have in place. The bare minimum should be an employee assistance programme (EAP), which often comes embedded within other benefits – so it is worth employers doing a little digging to check.
Build resilience
Rather than just providing the solutions, employers must also consider providing the tools for employees to manage their own mental health. Individuals need to have the emotional intelligence to spot the signs of mental health issues for themselves, such as realising they are not sleeping or eating well or are becoming easily irritated.
Employers should look to health and wellbeing benefits to support this self-reflection and understanding. This may include using health risk assessments, occupational health questionnaires, and apps that track patterns in mood, sleep, exercise, and so on.
Utilise digital options
New technology brings new ways of accessing support, and employers should make sure they are up to date on the options. These include virtual GPs and online counselling, where employees can easily access support without having to ask openly for help. Anonymity of support can be extremely important in many cases and is worth emphasising, although nobody should ever feel a stigma attached to needing support.
Build strong foundations
Mental health should be one of your priorities not just for Blue Monday or even just January, but beyond and throughout the year.”
Mental health is often said to underpin the other pillars of wellbeing – physical, financial and social health. Employers must, therefore, ensure that this vital aspect of health and wellbeing is in place for 2025 to assist in the overall wellbeing programme and to encourage such positive benefits to the business as lowering absence rates, increasing productivity and improving retention of employees.
In sum, mental health should be one of your priorities not just for Blue Monday or even just January, but beyond and throughout the year.
Putting the right support in place from the start will help to prevent issues from occurring throughout the year and will help employees learn how to become more resilient and able to make the best use of assistance available, if and when required.
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