Leading by example: Practicing good mental health in the workplace during the holidays

This time of the year, we are wishing people a happy holiday.

Unfortunately, not everyone experiences the same merriment and celebration during the holidays. For many people, possibly including some of your colleagues and employees, the holiday season can bring up a lot of sadness. This article provides tips for how leaders can lead by example in good mental health and wellness practices in the workplace during the holidays. 

Before going any further, allow me to explain what the root cause of this feeling of melancholy may be. The holiday blues are real! It is a temporary feeling of anxiety or depression during the holiday season that usually occurs during the months of November and December.  It is sometimes associated with seasonal affective disorder — a diagnosable depressive disorder linked to experiencing fewer hours of sunlight during the fall and winter

What may trigger the holiday blues?

 The reasons vary: 

• Stress caused by not feeling able to meet over-commercialized expectations of a “good” holidays
• missing loved ones who have died or cannot be with us due to concerns related to the spread of COVID-19.
• Negative feelings from memories of previous holidays.
• Feeling obligated to be around people like an uncle who drinks too much and says inappropriate and hurtful things. In other words, forcing yourself to be around people who, frankly, you don’t feel connected to and would prefer to avoid.

Tips for helping yourself and others

Monitor your moods. Before we can help others — our employees, our colleagues or our team members— we must take care of ourselves. Let’s face it, you may be experiencing some of the above-mentioned symptoms. If that is the case, reach out to someone you trust and share how you feel. This will make you feel less alone and help alleviate the stress of facing the challenges of the holiday on your own.  The following are some questions you may ask yourself before reaching out. 

• Who do I want to talk to?
• What kind of help do I want from them?
• How do I want to communicate?

If you have no one with whom you feel comfortable sharing your feelings, all is not lost. There are free resources that are available locally and nationally, including the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and SAMHSA’s National Helpline. Reach out to any of your employees, colleagues or team members who isn’t acting like their usual self. Let them know that you are available if they need someone to talk to.

Practice self-care in your personal life and at work by doing things like taking breaks throughout the day and drinking water. Urge your employees, colleagues and team members to do the same. Better yet, encourage some friendly competition. For example, engage your team members to walk at least 5,000 steps during the workday. The person who walks the most steps by a predetermined date gets a prize.  

Use your vacation and mental health days. Not only should you use them, but encourage others to use them too. A break can make a world of a difference.  This is not only important for our well-being, but also research shows that it increases productivity at work.

During your team meetings, on-site visits or one-on-one coaching or mentoring sessions, ask your people how they are coping with the holiday stress. Even if someone does not feel safe in the moment to share that they are experiencing holiday blues, they may benefit from hearing from others. Just hearing that others are having similar feelings can be helpful.  Besides, they could learn something they could adapt to feel better.

Managing one’s personal mental health and wellness is important. Of equal importance is helping others we lead do the same. Make this holiday season a safe one that reflects your values and brings you peace.