Mental Health in the Workplace: Boundaries, Stress, and Conflict
Considering how much time we spend at work, it’s no surprise that workplace conditions can have a major impact on our mental health. Interpersonal conflict, stress, systemic problems, or even just the wrong workplace for you can contribute to burnout, resentment, depression, anxiety, and many other negative health outcomes. Sadly, many of us are not in the position to simply up and leave a job that is taking a toll on our mental health. Instead, we must learn how to adjust the situation to our benefit where we can change things and endure where we cannot. In this article, we’ll go over three domains of common mental health concerns in the workplace and how you might address them.
Work/Life boundaries. When work has the ability to text and email you after hours, and your office is just a few feet from your couch, boundaries between work and personal life can become blurry. This type of boundary issue can leave you feeling drained, resentful, and unable to relax even when you’re off the clock. A good way to address this is to keep a separate work number and email (free spoof numbers can be obtained from Google Voice), which can then be muted after hours. If space is available, it’s also a good idea to situate your desk away from your relaxing spaces, such as your bedroom and living room. Moving your work to a separate location helps keep a mental boundary between where relaxing happens and where work happens.
Stress. Demanding careers take a toll on the mind and body. Nobody wants to end up being unhealthy and stressed out, but the need to provide in an ever more expensive world sometimes pushes us past our limits. When life forces us to work too much, or too hard, sometimes the best we can do is learn coping skills to help manage the stress and make the most of your downtime. Some stress management skills to look into include: mindfulness techniques, exercise, journaling, guided meditations, and simply talking it out with a trusted friend, family member, or therapist.
Conflict. Conflicts with coworkers and supervisors can bring out the worst in us: anger, contempt, sadness, anxiety, and shame. While we can’t control how others act, we can adjust how we act with the goal of both influencing others and protecting our own mental health. Although the full scope of interpersonal effectiveness training can’t be covered in this blog post, some core tenets of being a good communicator include active listening, being clear about needs and expectations, and showing engagement and respect. If you feel you struggle with communicating effectively, counseling is a great option to build those skills.
All three of these issues can cause significant distress and deserve to be taken seriously. If you find yourself struggling to cope with the pressures of work on your own, it may be time to seek counseling. A licensed therapist can help you build coping skills, improve your interpersonal effectiveness, set boundaries, and ultimately make the choices that shape the life you dream of. If work has you stressed out and you’re looking for a therapist in Macomb county, MI, give us a call at AWC today.
