1.Employees cannot be trained to spot someone who is mentally ill – until it’s too late.
2. Mental Health Month and RUOK Day are great but they only account for 32 days of the year.
3. According to the ABS, 20% of adult Australians will suffer from some form of mental illness in any given year. The rest of us just look miserable for the hell of it.
4. Education is good, but empathy is better. Together, they are excellent.
5. Not having a budget for a mental health initiative is false economy.
6. Initiatives that allow employees to retain their anonymity are smarter than ones where employees are expected to ‘’come out”.
7. Mental illness is largely irrational. Expecting to solve it with purely rational, logical methods may not be the smartest approach.
8. According to the World Health Organisation, depression is now the world’s largest disability.
9. Sometimes, those who have lived mental illness often know as much, if not more, than those who’ve studied mental illness.
10. Mental illness is an equal opportunity employer. Members of your senior management and board are as likely to suffer as kids in the latest graduate intake.

The Black Dog Institute is just one of many organisations offering a range of mental health programs for managers:
https://blackdoginstitute.org.au/education-training/workplace-mental-health-and-wellbeing/our-programs

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