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Mental health is everyone's business. We're all affected by it. In the workplace, the cost of doing nothing is staggering, both personally and economically.
It's time to listen when our friends and colleagues say, "I'm not myself today."
Today, Dalhousie Human Resources, together with Partners for Mental Health, is rolling out a new workplace campaign called "Not Myself Today." It's rooted in the the idea that every one of us has had a day when we don’t feel like ourselves. The campaign asks Canadians to imagine the experiences of people who live with those feelings not just one day, but many days, along with the shame, discrimination and lack of treatment and support that goes with it.
Across campus, volunteers will be distributing "mood" buttons. Each has a different emotion on it: happy, grumpy, anxious, empty, sensitive, sad and many others. Faculty and staff are encouraged to wear the buttons all week to help appreciate that we all bring different attitudes and perspectives to work each day, and that we need to treat everyone with empathy and understanding.
Dal is one of more than 70 organizations and companies taking part in "Not Myself Today" across Canada this year.
How to pick up your button(s)
Drop by any of the following locations between 10-11 a.m. or between 12-1 p.m. today:
- Killam Atrium
- Life Sciences Centre near Tim Hortons
- Law Library
- Tupper Link
- Sexton Campus Alumni Lounge
- Agricultural Campus MacRae Library
You can also contact Janice MacInnis, coordinator of organizational health, to acquire the buttons. janice.macinnis@dal.ca or 902-494-4568.
About mental health in the workplace
The stigma of mental illness in the workplace is alive and well in our society.
The numbers:
- 7 million Canadians will experience a mental health problem in the next 12 months
- 500,000 people are absent from work each day for mental health reasons
- 1 in 3 workplace disability claims are related to mental illness
- $51 billion is the annual economic cost of mental illness in Canada
Learn more at notmyselftoday.ca