emotional response – addressing mental health awareness at ... · 1. anger–a strong feeling of...

© Ricardo plc 2017

© Ricardo plc 2019

Emotional response – addressing

mental health awareness at the

workplace

Chris Scott | Crisis Management Consultant

Tuesday, 26 February, 2019

2© Ricardo-AEA Ltd Ricardo Energy & Environment in Confidence

About the speaker

Chris Scott

Ricardo’s in-house crisis management consultant, he has over 28 years

of experience in crisis management and has built knowledge, skills and

experience in human intelligence and cognitive behavioural sciences.

This includes understanding how people think, act and feel during times

of extreme pressure, stress and mental fatigue.

Chris has recently had excellent feedback following a series of course

delivery for a wide-range of industries.

Chris will be discussing this in more detail at our forthcoming pre-

conference hazmat workshop


Agenda

Background and current situation of mental health awareness

Emotions vs moods

The seven human universal emotions

Common human responses

Day to day business, day to day life

Four stages of mental health condition

Five key changes

How do we deal with it?

If someone comes to you


Depression has surged to epidemic proportions in recent years. It is widespread

across our classrooms and boardrooms and everything in between.

The World Health Organisation (2015) published that 4% of the world’s population

are suffering.

Depression and anxiety are the 10th leading causes of early death in our population.

Every minute, 2 people across the globe kill themselves because of depression.

Limbic ladder – some people fall early from the ladder while the

others keep going and when they fall, it’s from much higher and

therefore they fall harder and further away

Some common facts about mental health

Image source: www.goodreads.com; Data credit: World Health organisation


An emotion is normally a short lived, but intense, period of feeling – likely to have a

definitive and identifiable cause.

But what if…….

What is an emotion?


A mood is an emotion which is far less intense (milder) but lasts for ages!

But what if…….

What is a mood?

Image credit: www.someecards.com


1. Anger – a strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure, or hostility.

2. Fear – an unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm.

3. Disgust – a strong feeling of disapproval and dislike at a situation or person's behaviour.

4. Happiness – the state of being happy.

5. Sadness – the condition or quality of being sad.

6. Surprise – an unexpected or astonishing event, fact, etc.

7. Contempt – the feeling that a person or a thing is worthless or beneath consideration.

The seven human universal emotions


Common human responses

• Avoidance• Leave• Silence• Release• Attack• Internalise• Rationalise• Confusion• Shock• Name• Discuss• Confront• Misinterpret• Discretion

Image credit: www.livelifehappy.com


Day to day business, day to day life

Image credit: www.drjockers.com


What are the signs

Stage 1: Mild symptoms and warning signs.

Stage 2: Symptoms increase in frequency and severity and interfere with life activities and roles.

Stage 3: Symptoms worsen with relapsing and recurring episodes accompanied by serious disruption in life activities and roles.

Stage 4: Symptoms are persistent and severe and have jeopardized one’s life.

Four stages of mental health conditions

Source credit: stairways behavioural health


What are the signs?

4 Key changes


You may notice the person has more frequent problems

controlling his/her temper, seems irritable and unable to

calm down. People in more extreme situations of this kind

may be unable to sleep or may explode in anger at minor

problems.

Agitation


Someone normally very socially engaged may start to pull

away from family and friends and stop taking part in

activities he or she used to enjoy. In more severe cases,

that person may stop turning up to work. This is not to be

confused by those who are more introvert, this sign is

marked by a change in someone's typical sociability.

Withdrawn


You may notice a change in the person’s level of

personnel care or acts of poor judgement on his or her

part. For instance – personal hygiene can deteriorate, or

the person starts abusing alcohol and engages in self-

destructive behaviours which can alienate themselves

further.

Poor self-care


You may notice that a person who used to be optimistic

now finds being hopeful about anything difficult and

experience real feelings of worthlessness and guilt.

People start feeling that they have so little to offer that the

world would be better off without them – a powerful

feeling which can lead to self harm and suicide.

Hopelessness


We don’t ever want this

Image credit: thepoke.co.uk


• It starts at the very top and should filter down.

• Have we done it well historically?

• It’s daunting to deal with – we chose to ignore it.

• It can be frustrating if we don’t understand it.

• Guilt amongst the team.

• You feel helpless.

• Lack of resources – ‘I’m not an expert’.

• What about our own emotional involvement and stress levels?

• What about our own work demands?

How do we deal with it


• Be honest.

• Be present.

• Be in control.

• Actively listen.

• Suspend the need for quick fix.

• Express the emotion.

• Ask what is needed – ‘what do you think?’

• Provide comfort.

• We will do this together – team effort.

If someone comes to you

“Thanks very much for your input

yesterday. I knew it would be the

trigger for some conversation, but I

underestimated how much. It has

made a huge difference to the

students and the reputation of the

College. It has shown me how

much of a need for this there is in

UK Fire and Rescue Service.”

– Ed Sullivan, The Fire

Service College

© Ricardo plc 2017

Chris Scott

Crisis management consultant

Ricardo Energy & Environment

T: +44 (0) 1235 753143

M:+44 (0) 7792 755933

E: [email protected]

W: ee.ricardo.com/crisis-management

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