Mental health disorders are still a stigma in many areas of society, but the reality is that no one is exempt from suffering from them, especially in situations that cause us stress: whether in the workplace or in our personal or emotional life.
In fact, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), a quarter of the population suffers or will suffer some type of mental disorder in their lifetime, the most common of which are anxiety or depression. Failure to address these situations can lead to their chronification, explains Joana Hidalgo, Head of Occupational Health at Suara Cooperativa. For this reason, on 10th of October, Benestarum, the workplace wellness platform created by Suara Cooperativa, is organizing an online chat with psychologist Víctor Amat to talk about the challenges and existing tools for dealing with mental health problems, which will be open to the general public.
As Hidalgo details, emotional well-being is a broad concept related to the way we feel, think or act on a daily basis. "It can be defined as a state of balance and well-being in which a person is aware of their capabilities and can develop their cognitive and emotional skills, live in society and adequately meet the demands of everyday life," remarks Suara Cooperativa's Occupational Health Manager.
Therefore, having a good mental health allows us to face challenges, ups and downs, daily stressful situations, to have satisfactory relationships or to work efficiently. "Mental health is the basis for the well-being and effective functioning of individuals and communities and becomes an inseparable aspect of the concept of health: you cannot have a good state of health without good mental health," explains Hidalgo.
For this reason, the expert says, it is very important to raise society's awareness of mental disorders in order to combat stigmatization. In addition, it is also necessary to provide people with tools to detect and prevent possible cases of mental health disorders.
Preventing the health and wellbeing of employees
In that context, Suara Cooperativa launched in 2020 an initiative that, through an online platform, offered different services to the entity's workers, including psychological care. At that time, the cooperative believed that it was essential to provide this service due to the stressful context of the pandemic, the confinement, the post-confinement, as well as the measures that limited the interactions between people and the displacements.
However, three years later, Suara Cooperativa has been able to see the benefits for the workers and continues with this ongoing project, through which it also provides physical, emotional, nutritional and financial support. As well, it wanted to go a step further and now offers the Benestarum service to other companies. It currently has more than 7,500 people registered on the platform and more than 2,600 sessions carried out.
Another of Benestarum's challenges is to offer resources for employees on issues that can improve their well-being and health. This is the context for the conference given by psychologist Víctor Amat on 10th of October, World Mental Health Day. In this case, it will not only be for users of the platform, but will be open to the public.
The talk, entitled "Dodge the hits: emotional and team survival", can be followed online from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. on the Benestarum website, as long as you have previously registered through this link. In an agile, entertaining, but profound way, Amat will address certain myths about how, sometimes, when trying to help people with a mental disorder, their situation often worsens. In this sense, he will emphasize how overly positive or encouraging messages can be counterproductive because they do not take into account the feelings of the person affected.
He will also talk about different mental health disorders that we can find in our daily lives, as well as how to get out of them not only by ourselves, but also with a team that has an empathetic emotional management.
With a degree in psychology from the University Ramon Llull, Victor Amat is the director of the Brief Therapy Center of Barcelona and president of the Spanish Association of Brief Psychotherapy. He is also director of the master and postgraduate program in Brief and Strategic Therapy (Clinical Intervention) at the University of Girona; he also collaborates in several public institutions such as the Catalan Institute of Health, Diputació de Barcelona, Generalitat de Catalunya and in different universities: University of Barcelona, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Ramon Llull University, University of Girona, Les Heures Foundation, among others.
