Institute of Psychiatry celebrates World Mental Health Day

Rawalpindi :The Institute of Psychiatry and WHO Collaborating Centre for Mental Health Research and Training at Rawalpindi Medical University organised a symposium to celebrate World Mental Health Day with the theme ‘Mental Health in the Workplace’.

The speakers of the symposium included mental health professionals, educationists, social workers and students who highlighted the importance of mental health in various workplaces. The symposium was organised in collaboration with the Pakistan Psychiatric Society.

Head at Institute of Psychiatry and Chief Federal Chapter of Pakistan Psychiatric Society Dr. Asad Tamizuddin Nizami introduced this year’s theme of World Mental Health Day, “Mental Health in the Workplace”, a subject chosen by the WHO to highlight the burden of mental health problems, which occur due to the circumstances in the workplace.

He said since most of our adult life is spent in the workplace and the environment and experience of the workplace has a major effect on an individual’s mental health and quality of life in general. Problems in workplace can lead to absenteeism, depression, stress, substance abuse. Research has found that one in 20 people in any workplace around the world suffer from depression, he said.

He highlighted that mental health problems lead to a decrease in productivity, quality of performance and a major strain on resources. Difficulties in communication, not being able to work well in teams, not having clear organizational objectives, working hours and compensation are all risk factors which may predispose to the development of mental health problems. Better communication, delegation and distribution of work, open door policy, work-life balance, and career pathways improve the mental health in the workplace, said Dr. Nizami.

He also mentioned that one of the important indicators of sustaining mental health in the workplaces is the judicious use of time and the management of our time resource. He said the Time-Use Surveys conducted over different countries measuring the allocation of time over 24 hours found that on average in Pakistan seven hours are allocated for work and four hours for leisure.

Interestingly, in comparison to neighbouring countries, in Pakistan, the time spent gossiping, quarrelling is high and the time spent on personal care and leisure is less, he said. This is influenced by Cultural Intelligence and Cultural Quotient, which is broadly an individual’s capacity to adapt and interact with people from different backgrounds and our environment productively. It is thought that individuals with a higher CQ can adapt better, and consequently can have better mental health, said Dr. Nizami.

Dr. Salma Siddiqui, Founding Head of Department of Behavioural Sciences at National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, a Fulbright Fellow at the Department of Psychology, University of Alabama, USA, reiterated the importance of the topic in discussion, pointing out the reality that each of us are under a lot of stress at the workplace and the concept of self-care should be expanded to include caring for one’s mental health.

Working women particularly face many issues because of the expectation to be excellent professionals as well as mothers, and wives due to a conflict between traditional and professional roles, she said.

Principal Headstart International School Faheem Khan shared his experience of working with children, adolescents and teachers and explained how they were able to contribute to a healthier school environment. Internationally, paid vacation leave for working adults and reduction in total school hours are found to be useful to increase productivity.

Speaking on the occasion, Co-Chairman Board of Advanced Studies & Research and Director of International Relations at Rawalpindi Medical University and WHO Collaborating Centre for Mental Health Research & Training Professor Fareed Aslam Minhas said a healthy workplace is defined as an environment that contributes to the health, safety and wellbeing of employees and managers alike.

Professional demands, roles and responsibilities, support system, justice and fairness, interpersonal relationship dynamics, reward systems, change, and power and control are all factors that are important in the workplace, he said.

Unrealistic demands, unclear roles, lack of support, injustice, inequality, nepotism, problematic communication, lack of career pathways and reward systems, resistance to change, and authoritarian style of leadership all contribute to increased stress in the workplace and can lead to the development of mental health problems, said Professor Minhas.

He pointed out the heavy stigma of mental illnesses and research which shows that employers world over discriminate against mentally ill individuals that shows the need for sensitization and training of employers in all sectors including psychiatry and medicine as well as all other professions.

He said psychiatric residency trainees often face mental health issues due to demanding schedules but are unable to seek help and take time off for fear of damage to career and stigmatization. He also pointed out the importance of recognizing childhood and adolescent mental health issues which can have long lasting effects on adult mental health, quality of life, productivity and performance.

He emphasized the support and treatment of maternal mental health issues which directly impact child health, IQ, mental health and functioning which is a burden of illness not calculated but significant in proportion.

Professor Malik Hussain Mubasshar, Professor Emeritus and founding head of University of Health Sciences and Institute of Psychiatry shared his vision for the future of mental health in Pakistan.

He progressed to implement a community rural mental health program focusing on training teachers, general physicians and faith healers with the purpose of sensitizing them to mental illnesses and making them allies in the goal to improve mental health of our nation beyond servicing patients in OPD in hospitals. He spoke about the social ills of jealousy, gossip and sycophancy, which prevail in our culture and which affect interpersonal dynamics and cause problems in the society at large including the workplace.

Head of Department of Paediatrics at RMU Professor Rai Asghar talked about his own experience in paediatrics as a professor and the need to re-evaluate training hours for residents, work circumstances, and administrative issues faced by post-graduate trainees, which directly impact patient care and performance.