Mental Health Safety Guidelines

I have based the following information on my clinical experience and the parts of therapy that have helped my clients the most. The information should be considered as guidelines only and not taken as medical advice.

Practical Guidelines for those facing depression

One of the most important things in dealing with depression is to not think too much. The worst thing to do when you feel 'really down' is to think about why you feel so down. This will no doubt lead you into a worse emotional state. It is far better to use some of the techniques outlined below.

Quick tricks to try if you feel really down

Get moving

If you can do something, anything, it can help to change how you feel. If you can move your body you will feel better. Doing something with your body gets the 'feel good' physiology into action, so even a short walk can help.

Set yourself a small task

This can be anything, ideally something you usually don't mind doing - taking the dog for a walk, sorting out a drawer or cleaning something - something to get you focused outwards. It is essentially a distraction technique, and completing the task will make you feel good.

Call someone

If you have a person you feel you can talk to, call them and have a chat, and not necessarily about feeling down. Just a brief chat about anything can distract you from your own thoughts.

Have a shower

There are different reasons why this works, but if you can take a shower and change your clothes this may help.

Play uplifting music

Listen to the music you would choose if you felt really good. This will feel uncomfortable psychologically as there will be a mismatch between your mood and the music, but if you can leave it playing your brain physiology and mood will lift to match the music.

Watch a comedy video

This is in line with the way music changes your emotional state, although it can be more powerful as you have the visual imagery as well as the sound.

Take a nap

Having a quick sleep (between 20 and 40 minutes) can be a good way to change your mood state.

Learn which 'trick' works best for you and try and remember to do this in those moments you feel down. Make sure you have your favorite uplifting CD or DVD readily available..

Other considerations

Avoid alcohol and illegal drugs

It may be tempting to try and 'dull the pain', but unfortunately this will only make you feel worse.

Medication?

There is mixed research regarding the effectiveness of anti-depressant medication. From my clinical experience, I believe a short course of anti-depressants may help if you are so depressed your life is at risk. This should be discussed with your Doctor. I believe everything else should be examined first and all other avenues exhausted prior to medication being prescribed. It is not recommended that children and teenagers are given anti-depressant medication.

Your diet needs to be examined first to make sure your mood is not being affected by something else, such as a lack of Vitamin B, Zinc or Essential Fatty Acids (Omega 3 etc), before a chemical is added.

Remember: Things will always change

When researchers talk to people who have made suicide attempts, there is a consistent finding: people explain they did not want themselves as a person 'to die'. They were usually glad their attempts were unsuccessful and that all they really wanted was the life they were living and the way they felt to change. This is very different from not wanting to live. So it needs to be remembered that ALL emotional states and situations change.

Acceptance: All emotions pass

Even as you have not always felt the way you do today, you will feel differently again later. It is important to remind yourself that your emotional state will pass. It may also help to notice that you are experiencing the emotion, rather than that you are the emotion.

Acceptance: All situations change

If you are reading this it is likely that you have gone through some major life changes recently; this may involve relationship, employment, or family changes or perhaps all these things. It is important to remember that as things may have changed 'for the worse', they can change just as quickly 'for the better'. Take one day at a time and allow yourself to be open to the possibility that you could be in a totally different situation in months, weeks and even days ahead.

It's okay to feel sad

Remind yourself its okay to feel sad for a short time. If something sad has happened, it's okay to feel this. Let yourself cry if that is the emotion that is building inside you. If you find yourself crying for hours check your thoughts. If you identify a repeating negative or self-blaming thought, please challenge this and use some of the strategies written here to change this.

Check your Biological State

Always check your biological state first, if you start thinking you feel 'down'. A very common error I see is that people have something affecting them physically and they will quickly assume they are depressed/ sad etc. Examples of this can include tiredness, physical pain or illness, hormonal factors, alcohol withdrawal, vitamin B deficiency, dehydration or hunger.

The truth is the physical aspect needs to be treated first. You need to do a quick 'body-check' if you feel 'down' and ask yourself if you are tired, hungry, etc. If you are, then get some sleep, take a multivitamin if you are hormonal, pain relief if you are in pain etc. If you have had alcohol, even one or two drinks, you will feel slightly 'flat' for the next day or two. This is one reason why people are not recommended to drink alcohol every day.

If you need to 'keep going' although you may be tired or unwell, for example you have work commitments, be aware of your physical state. The key here is to look after yourself during these times while acknowledging you are not likely to feel your best emotionally. Rather than thinking about how you feel emotionally at these times, listen to uplifting music, watch a comedy DVD etc. Do this until the physical is addressed.

There are other things which have also been linked to anxiety and depression, mainly Aspartame (artificial sweetener) which you will find in most 'diet' or sugar-free foods and drinks. Always check the label and avoid this chemical.

Emergency Safety Tips:

If you need something as an emergency safety trick for yourself, there are a couple of other things which I see help clients 'stay':

1. Give yourself a time-line: make a deal with yourself that you will stay around until a certain date, e.g. three months, even one week and then you will review how you feel. Continue extending these dates and it can keep you here long enough for things to change.

2. Convince yourself to sleep instead, this will give you time off from being 'conscious' without it being permanent.

3. Remember it is normal for the brain to try and search out 'solutions' to problems, which in this case is feeling really down. The brain is like a computer and will run different possibilities to try and find an answer. So just recognizing "well I could do that, but I'm choosing not to" can actually take the pressure off you mentally and help you feel better.

4. Protect yourself by making sure you have nothing around you that you could hurt yourself with, e.g. medications. Give these to a trusted person to administer to you as and when required. Or if you are putting yourself at risk driving, you may have to not drive for a few days etc.

If you try everything written here and continue to feel very unhappy and unsafe you may need to call an Emergency Services Helpline.

Contact information is listed on my website: http://www.newpsychology.com.au

Charity C- L Parrish is a Clinical Psychologist registered with the Psychological Board of Australia (PBA). She has been practicing as a psychologist since 2005 and has worked in many different areas including conducting assessments for the Family and Youth Court and clinical therapy work.

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Selecting a Health and Safety Consultant

Many small businesses reach a point in their growth when the need for health and safety advice becomes important. The reasons vary - it may be the company reaches certain critical points that trigger legislative requirements, the owner/manager simply no longer has the time due to the general growth of the business or simply because as the company grows health and safety questions become more complex. Another factor that I've noticed in recent years is large companies requiring more in depth safety management systems from even the smallest supplier as part of an attempt to minimise their own liabilities as part of their contractor vetting programme.

Within the UK - companies with 5 employees need to start recording risk assessments and require health and safety policies but even without legislation most companies reach a point where they accept a need for professional safety advice. Now that point may simply be when they reach a point of needing safety documents or it may come a few years later as the company grows and safety needs become more complex than the management are immediately comfortable with.

As we travel around the globe we find different laws, different levels of professionalism and varying qualifications are linked to health and safety. For small companies attempting to locate their first health and safety consultant it can be an expensive mistake if the wrong Consultancy is employed. So how do you get the decision right first time?

Competence and Qualifications - Whilst exams and certificates aren't the only factor they tend to be a good starting point. In recent years "safety consultants" have grown like mould - unfortunately many are seriously lacking in any formal qualification and others have the paper but little real world experience. The term health and safety consultant is not "protected" in any of the industrial nations thus too many people with a new business card and website appear as experts - but all too often they have little by way of qualifications and/or experience. Every country has its own qualifications but do check and find out what those qualifications are. In the UK - IOSH is the largest professional body and there is a national register of safety consultants run in partnership with the government and HSE; www.oshcr.org. This requires the consultants to be fully qualified (the register has an equivalency scheme between the main safety institutes so regardless of where they became qualified you can rest assured they are qualified).

Experience: Alongside qualification it's another must have. Fresh faced 20 somethings fresh out of college with a degree in safety may have a bright future but with little experience their value as a consultant can be limited. Traditionally good consultants learnt their trade somewhere in a full time role - how to find the right compromise, how to make safety work in the real world - and received support from more experienced colleagues whilst they made their own mistakes.

Sector Knowledge - It's always helpful when the consultant can speak about your industry from the beginning - but equally a good consultant has seen a wide variety of workplaces over the years and can quickly apply the basic principles to any company. More important than immediate experience of your industry is whether they grasp the basic principles of your business quickly. To me whilst you always learn things in new business and sectors a lot of knowledge is transferable - machine guarding is common regardless of whats being processed.

Fear - the moment a consultant uses fear to sell walk away. Anyone who talks about jail, fines as the only justification for using them is struggling. Yes we all know the law is part of the reason you're looking for a safety professional but any body can quote law - a good safety advisor will lead you through a broader set of reasons that include law but not in isolation - people not getting hurt being the principle factor to start from.

Cost: Don't be misled by low day rates, cheap initial safety audits - it's not what you pay per hour that matters it's what you get for your money that matters. The old sales technique of getting your foot in the door with an offer and then upselling is just as common in safety as elsewhere.

Two Way Conversations - a good consultant will talk to you before starting or even quoting. I like to know what a client thinks they need, how they view where they're at and how much budget there is as typical starting points. Every client is different - every client has unique challenges and solutions. Whilst budgets need to be flexible; a good consultant will look to find a way to maximise your spend in terms of outputs and solutions for your business.

Like - it's a weird word for business - but "do I like or at least respect the consultant?" is key. If you understand what they say - they understand you and attempt to make any advice fit into your business then it's a good beginning. You need to work with them so make sure thats possible before making your selection.

Initial Documents - this is where you really can tell if you've made the right choice - it may not be ideal but if you're unhappy now then things will only get worse as time passes. Things to be wary of - if documents look like they've been cut and paste they probably have (safety reports and safety policies are the worst offenders); if you don't really understand the work because its written in legalese (or just endless warnings of jail and fines) then it's time to re consider because the chances are that it will end up destined to be unread; equally if there's no attempt to understand business pressures and needs then again it may be time to get a second opinion. A quick test I always use is to simply do a word search in Word or whatever software you use. Think of typical words that are key to your business and see if they exist (for example working for a car repair workshop - check words like vehicle repair, ramp, oil - dumb I know but when none show up bar the most general sense than its a generic policy).

If you find the right safety consultant they'll work with you to make your workplace safer and it should feel like everyone's got the same goals - get the right consultant and it can be a relationship that grows with your business. Nothing lasts forever and everything has its own lifespan - but long relations mean they remember the past, remember where you came from and best of all develop relationships with you and your staff - and relationships are key to most things at the end of the day.

But in summary ensure they are competent, will deliver and you feel you can develop a "relationship" with - or at the very least they can solve you immediate needs.

Chris Elliott is a Health and Safety Consultant based in London, UK. He provides advice to companies large and small within London but also works on a variety of International projects. He aims to provide sensible cost effective solutions for modern business. He can be contacted through his website - http://www.chris-elliott.co.uk or e mail chris.elliott@chris-elliott.co.uk