Work can have many positive aspects. It not only helps us to earn a living, it also gives us a gift:
A fixed daily structure,
Tasks and
social contacts.
Ideally, there are times when the job:
is a challenge,
satisfies us,
inspires and is fun
or we may perceive it as meaningful.
The way we live and experience work has a direct influence on our mental health. Those who look forward to their job in the morning and spend their working day in a good mood have a positive view of their own mental health. Constant overload and a difficult working environment, on the other hand, can cause mental stress and even make you ill. There is a direct correlation between mental well-being and productivity.
The annual Mental Health Week takes place from October 10 to 20. This year’s motto is “Hand in hand for mental health in the workplace”. And it goes without saying that a column on this topic has to be published today, because Mental Health Week traditionally starts on October 10 with World Mental Health Day. There will be lots of exciting events on the topic of mental health throughout Germany during this time. Find out more in the online calendar of events.
Many of the events take up the motto “Mental health in the workplace”, but a freer choice of topics is also possible. I would therefore like to invite you to a live reading on the topic of human dignity and mental health in Flensburg. Find out more below.
Meritocracy, professional success, shortage of skilled workers, promotion opportunities, work intensification, dream job, constant stress… In everyday working life, it is a challenge for each and every one of us to maintain a good work-life balance. After all, we want to do our job well and reliably, meet the demands placed on us and, as the icing on the cake, of course, be proud of our successes and progress professionally.
We can only find out to what extent our mental health is in balance at work if we reflect critically on ourselves. Not so easy when you’re stuck in a hamster wheel or possibly even heading for burnout. A friend of mine, a successful manager for many years, has just been hit by this. Despite intensive discussions with the HR department well in advance, it was not possible to change structures that were causing illness. She continued to work in this stressful situation for another year, but then her body and mind could no longer cope.
Mental crises and illnesses are now one of the main reasons for absences from work. According to statistics, each employee in Germany takes an average of 32 sick days per year due to mental illness.
If you look at the trend in recent years, the tendency is dramatic. According to the Federal Ministry of Labor, the numbers have increased in the last
In 2012, the number of sick days taken by all employees in Germany due to mental stress was still around 65 million. In 2022, the figure was 132 million days – six million more than in 2021[1].
According to the DAK Psychreport 2024, sick leave for mental health reasons has increased, particularly among young people and in social professions. Companies are experiencing a vicious circle of staff shortages and fluctuation on the one hand, and increasing workloads and absences on the other. [2]
Individual organization of working hours
In return, however, a lot has happened in recent years and decades, especially in office jobs, in terms of the options for personal working hours: in many places, flexible working hours allow “larks” and “owls” to respond to their internal clock and work when their physical and mental strength is best available. Working time accounts and special agreements with employers make sabbaticals possible. If there is no fixed arrangement in your job, talk to your employer about it, a conversation makes a lot possible. Since the experience with the coronavirus pandemic, many companies have introduced or generously extended home office regulations.
The right to part-time work has existed for employees since 2001, provided there are more than 15 employees in the company.[3] Since 2015, employees have been able to take family care leave and reduce their working hours to up to 15 hours for a maximum of two years. Financial support or loans are available. [4]
Jumping into the sea during your lunch break: digital nomads enjoy a particularly high level of freedom as they pursue their job worldwide with a laptop and a stable internet connection, combining work and travel. A dream for many people – but one that doesn’t necessarily have to remain a dream.
Photo: unsplash – Sean Oulashin
If we have the opportunity to help shape our working hours and working conditions according to our individual needs, this naturally has a positive impact on our mental health. An open discussion with employers is always worthwhile here. Self-employed people have more creative freedom, but also the challenge of “working for yourself all the time”, which makes it more difficult to switch off and not work at weekends and on vacation.
Employer’s duty of care
A process of change can be observed on the employer side: Many companies are aware of their duty of care for their employees – as well as the negative economic impact of absenteeism. The topic of mental health is high on their agenda and is firmly anchored in company health management. Courses are offered to increase resilience and prevent mental stress. Nevertheless, there is still room for improvement in many places.
Duty of self-care
No one can look inside us. People have different levels of resilience at work and at different stages of their lives. If we reach our limits too often and go beyond them, if we are on the spare tire for too long, it is our own responsibility to address this with our superiors. If we are self-employed, we need to question ourselves critically and change any conditions that make us ill.
Feelings of shame won’t get us anywhere here. Neither does the will to not let anything get you down. (Oh yes, I know him well…) Talking and initiating change are the only things that work. I had to experience it myself through a burnout in my early 30s and have said it so often to others ever since: “No job in the world is worth letting yourself be carried out feet first.” So we need to change the situation. If this is not possible, we have to take action.
“Recognizing your own limits and standing up for them is not a weakness – it is the basis for long-term success and mental health.” – Kinga Bartczak
Kinga Bartczak is the publisher of FemalExperts magazine, entrepreneur, management consultant, trainer and systemically trained business coach
Psychosomatics: When the soul sparks S.O.S
Permanent stress does not necessarily have to have obvious psychological effects first. Our soul often tries to draw attention to its distress through physical symptoms, i.e. psychosomatically. And yet, unfortunately, we ignore it too often and for too long.
Classics such as headaches and stomach aches, but also back pain or a general lack of energy can be important S.O.S. signals from our psyche. At worst, it can be life-threatening. Physical symptoms that occur over a longer period of time should therefore always be taken seriously and clarified by your family doctor. Let’s take responsibility for our mental health just as we do for our physical health!
“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose.” – William James (American psychologist and philosopher, founder of scientific psychology in the USA, 1842-1910)
Tips for dealing with permanent overload and work structures that cause illness
The following tips can help in the context of permanent overload or work structures that cause illness:
Analyze your own situation and look for new solutions.
Talk to people close to you and get advice.
Make sure you take regular breaks.
Reduce overtime and, if possible, reduce an existing cushion by taking time off in lieu.
Set yourself fixed times for starting and finishing work and stick to them consistently.
The weekend remains work-free.
Learning to say no and using opportunities to delegate.
Stand up regularly during work, breathe consciously, incorporate small gymnastic exercises such as stretching and stretching
Integrate exercise into the lunch break and eat and drink regularly.
In our free time, we need to find a balance through relaxation, but also hobbies, sport, nature and meeting other people. If we are permanently too exhausted for anything other than passive relaxation, this is a clear warning signal from our psyche.
Try out new methods to reduce inner tension, for example progressive muscle relaxation according to Jacobson, autogenic training, meditation, yoga, mindfulness, sport, singing – the choice is huge. My personal insider tip: acupressure mat. I love it!
Seek a conversation with your supervisor (prepare the conversation with an analysis of the situation and possible solutions, pay attention to positive communication with “I” messages, e.g. “For me, the current work situation is as follows, I am currently…; for the future my suggestion/wish is…; I would like to develop further solutions with you/you in conversation…”).
In the event of difficult situations, involve the HR department and, if necessary, the works council in order to find solutions together.
Take advantage of professional support in the form of coaching or therapy.
Sick leave is not a loss of face, but sometimes the right and appropriate way.
“If you only ever function, you’re avoiding the adventure of life.” – Armin Mueller-Stahl (German actor, *1930)
If it is not possible to sustainably improve a mentally stressful work situation, the question of a professional reorientation arises. We should be aware that our skills and experience are in demand and valued elsewhere. The shortage of skilled workers also plays into our hands here. With these thoughts in mind, our self-confidence regarding our job prospects can be increased again.
Immediate help with strong inner tension
For me personally, the combination of positive beliefs with conscious deep abdominal breathing helps in situations of high tension. I slowly speak these words to myself in parallel with my breaths, which I then repeat several times like a mantra and notice how my heartbeat and autonomic nervous system calm down:
“Tension and relaxation are in my hands. I relax more and more with every breath.”
Maybe you’d like to try it out too?
Invitation to a reading with Nora Hille in Flensburg on the occasion of Mental Health Week
Author Nora Hille reads on the occasion of Mental Health Week in Flensburg. Photo: Valentina Wellbrock
Overall, it is important that it becomes more and more natural for each and every one of us, as well as for our entire society, to talk about mental health outside the mental health bubble. It is just as relevant as physical health and is closely linked to it.
I am therefore delighted to invite you to the following event on the occasion of Mental Health Week on Friday, October 18, 2024, in Flensburg:
Reading at the art exhibition “Human Dignity” on the occasion of Mental Health Week
The artists for human dignity group with its current exhibition at the AWO Service House Sandberg has been inviting the public to take part in the human dignity writing project for a year now. This led to an intensive exchange between the Flensburg artist Lou Noltenius and author Nora Hille. Nora is an expert from her own experience on the topics of mental health and successful living with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Experience in a moving reading what human dignity has to do with the challenge of mental illness.
15.30 h Guided tour of the exhibition (Lou Noltenius)
16 h Reading with Nora Hille
Both program points can be visited together or separately.
Where: Gallery in the AWO Servicehaus Sandberg, Schulze-Delitzsch-Straße 21a, 24943 Flensburg.
We look forward to welcoming every visitor who is interested in an inspiring event and an exciting discussion!
More info:
The artists for human dignity group includes: Galina Antinseva, Steffi Koch, Lou Noltenius. On Instagram under @artistsforhumandignity. Nora Hille can also be found there under @norahille_autorin or on the Internet at www.norahille.de.
Other exciting events as part of Mental Health Week can be found in the online events calendar.
Take good care of yourself and have a wonderful fall season.
Nora Hille was born in 1975, is happily married and has two children. She studied history, literature and media studies, worked in communications/public relations for 12 years and has now retired for health reasons. Today she writes articles on the topics of mental health and mental illness as a sufferer and experience expert. She also writes literary essays, poems (preferably haikus) and short prose. She regularly publishes her mental health column here at FemalExperts Magazine and is Editor of eXperimenta - the magazine for literature, art and society. Anti-stigma work is close to her heart: she is an encourager at Mutmachleute e.V. and is committed to Anti-Stigma-Texts against the stigmatization (exclusion) of the mentally ill in our society for more togetherness, tolerance and equality. In autumn 2023 her book "When Light Defeats Darkness" will be published by Palomaa Publishing. A book of encouragement about how to live a good and rich life despite bipolar illness - and the enormous challenge that this means every day for the inner balance of those affected.
