Mental Health and the Workplace

I learned through these assessments that my behavior and interactions with other people are “tinged with impatience and hostility,” according to the Type A Personality Test from Psychology Today. My stress inventory indicated that I live a relatively stressful life, and the coping assessment suggested that I don’t necessarily have the healthiest coping and stress management techniques or ability. I learned that I’m definitely more stressed and impatient than I had really realized. More importantly, I realized the impacts that that can have on the rest of my life. The Psychology Today Type A assessment described that the aspect of the Type A Behavior Pattern (TABP) that I most exhibited, Impatience and Irritability, has been linked as a culprit in coronary heart disease, among other cardiovascular conditions.

There are a number of actions I can take in my daily life to combat the effects of my stressful and irritable/impatient lifestyle. There are several meditative and calming techniques, including periodic mindful breathing, journaling, grounding exercises, and removing myself from overly stressful situations. This will help as I progress in my professional career, so I am better able to act without anger or hostility toward those with whom I work.

The Harvard Business Review published an article about mechanisms employees and organizations can implement to help support their employees’ mental health and wellness. Some of these strategies include being vulnerable with employees to destigmatize talking about mental health and fostering a culture of comfort in talking about their challenges, checking in regularly with employees to offer support and create connections, modeling healthy coping behaviors, being flexible, and to communicate above and beyond what should be expected (Greenwood and Krol, 2020).

Reference:

Greenwood, K., & Krol, N. (2020, August 7). 8 ways managers can support employees’ mental health. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2020/08/8-ways-managers-can-support-employees-mental-health