Change and Mental Health

I'm sure you've heard that the World Health Organisation (WHO) defines health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Did you know this definition was introduced in 1948 and has never been changed? It's not really relevant to this, but now you've got something clever to say in polite conversation!

What is relevant is that mental health is also not merely the absence of dis-ease, or stress. Good mental health is the presence of emotional and psychological capabilities in our lives that allow us to deal with stress or the effects of dis-ease.

Mental health and emotional well-being is essential for change.

If we are stressed or dis-eased, dealing with change becomes difficult, or even impossible. In fact, the prospect of change can often be very revealing about a person's mental health. It's understandable that people facing change cycle through normal coping or defense mechanisms regarding the change. However, coping with change is very difficult for someone who has not built good mental health.

To ensure that you are well equipped to deal with change it is essential to continue to build good mental health. It's not something you do once and forget about. Good mental health is a life journey that we practice every day.

The emotional and psychological capabilities we need to manage change include:

• Resilience: the ability to positively adjust to, or 'bounce back' from, the effects of adversity, change, stress or trauma.


• Balance in life: this usually requires a focus on SELF, FAMILY, WORK, and SOCIETY or COMMUNITY. Here are some great ideas to help you manage your work life balance.


• Flexibility: as a surfer we need to exercise our emotional 'muscles' so that we are ready for change and willing to move and be flexible in order to remain standing. I've put some more thoughts about this here. "The bend in the road is not the end of the road unless you refuse to take the turn" - Anon.

Polite conversation may not include asking about someone else's mental health. But it's good to be aware of your own, and to continue building in these areas.

Mark Connelly - Change Management Coach, Business & Life Coach, Psychologist - Cape Town

Get The Balance Right

After enjoying fame as a Depeche Mode lyric 'Get the balance right' has been the standard chant of Employee Assistance Programs and corporate wellbeing advisers since the 1990's. As organisations pushed harder and demanded more someone realised that Vitamin B12 injections weren't going to hack it on their own as the organisational Gummi Berry Juice.

To counter the effects of working 8 to 5 (commuting excluded) plus overtime to prove commitment, in a sick-air office with no windows, frazzled employees were told to get a life. Literally.

Not that it's bad advice. Actually it's quite good. Balance the stress of work with an equal measure of ...well, other stuff. Like family and fun and hobbies and exercise and time-out and beach walks and movies and friends and sport and...

People react badly when I tell them about this. Often they laugh at me. Then they get angry as they tell me about working from 8 to 5, the hour it takes them to get home (if they're lucky), and then the 2nd job of cooking food, doing homework, supper, baths and bed; putting on the washing, cleaning up, stroking the partner, stroking the pet, before finally crash landing in
bed ...to... prepare...the...body...to...get up at 5.30am to make the breakfast, make the lunches, peck the partner, peck the kids, smile politely at the other idiots using the road, and commute back to work, arriving just in time to pick up the brochure on work life balance (and get the B12 injection).

When the Bleep! is there time for work life balance?

I've met a lot of employees who ignore this advice - in hospitals and clinics. The word Burnout is usually somewhere in their medical file. It's then that they get it. They have to make changes to their lifestyle. It's like the light is switched on. Trouble is, just picking up the pieces to see if they fit together feels like a mammoth task.

Work life balance is an individual achievement. You do what's best for you. Don't wait until you are forced to make changes. Take responsibility now.

I've added essential work life balance information to my web pages, including Curly's Finger, my favourite guide to help you decide what's most important in your life. Take a moment and add a meaningful dimension to your life.

Mark Connelly - Change Management Coach, Life & Business Coach, Psychologist - Cape Town