WHITE PAPER

The A-Z of Mental Wellbeing for Australian WorkplacesAn HR Professional’s Guide

to Creating a Mentally

Healthy Workforce

Written by Dr Louise Schofield and

Simon Barden, Vitality Works Innovation Team

|NTRODUCTION

The causes of poor mental health can be due to many factors

including work stress, substance abuse, financial stress, relationship

stress and/or caregiving responsibilities. Regardless of the source,

the impact of poor mental health on both individual employees

and organisations is profound.

A

BSENTEEIS

M

PR

OD

UCTIVITY

MEDLOW

Stress LevelsHIGH

In this paper we shine light on:

• Key mental health statistics

• Top tips on how to create a mentally healthy

workforce

• The roadmap to change

• Further support options for your organisation

and employees

For the individual it can result in:

• Increased number of days off

• Reduced personal finances

(if a worker has no sick leave)

• Reduced quality of life.

For the organisation:

The impact on the organisation

is experienced via lower

engagement and reduced

productivity.

One size does not fit all when it

comes to managing the mental

wellbeing of your employee

population.

It is likely that within your

organisation at any particular

point in time you will have

employees with varying degrees

of mental wellbeing.

As stress levels increase, we see

an increase in absenteeism, which

causes a decrease in productivity

Employees who are clinically depressed, very anxious or extremely stressed

Employees who are

surviving but not thriving

Employees who

are thriving

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LOW WELLBEING

THE KEY IS TO:

recognise who they are and provide

appropriate support

THE KEY IS TO:

have empathy and meet them where they are

currently at.

THE KEY IS TO:

challenge these employees to be

peak performers and continue to build their resilience.

HIGH WELLBEING

MODERATE WELLBEING

MENTAL HEALTH STATISTICS

Nearly5 OF WHOM ARE MEN

DIE BY SUICIDE EVERY DAY –

Aroundpeople in Australia live with1Million

DEPRESSION

Aroundpeople in Australia live with2Million

ANXIETY

7AUSTRALIANS

IN MENare likely to experience

ANXIETY in their lifetime.

1 5IN WOMEN1 3

IN MENare likely to experience

DEPRESSION in their lifetime.

1 8IN WOMEN1 6

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INSIGHTWork-related Risk Factors for Mental ill-health

• High workload and/or not enough work

• Tight deadlines

• Bullying

• Conflict at work

• Job insecurity/redundancy/job loss

• Lack of support

• Poor work-life balance

• Unclear work role

Infographic Source: Beyond Blue

A –ALCOHOL

Did you know that up to 15% of workplace injuries worldwide are linked to drug and alcohol use?

The economic cost of alcohol in Australia is estimated at over $4.5 billion, with the largest proportion of this cost being made up by lost workplace production.

One of the key steps to minimising these risks is through recognising factors, both in the workplace and externally that influence the use of alcohol1.

With alcohol often used as a tool to deal with stress, it’s important to ensure your team members have healthier, more effective tools at their disposal to build resiliency.

B – BUFFERS (AND MAGNIFIERS)

When things go wrong, how do you respond? Are the behaviours you choose ultimately helping you to cope with the situation or are they actually making things worse?

Magnifiers include; binge eating, drinking too much, and withdrawing from others.

Buffers on the other hand are behaviours that will help you to cope during times of stress and/or high pressure and include activities such as exercising, relaxing in a hot bath, and/or meeting a friend for coffee.

We now understand that when you are experiencing times of high stress if you predominantly use buffers you will ultimately become more resilient. Conversely if you predominantly use magnifiers to cope you are more likely to end up with depression, anxiety or other mental health disorders.

C – CATASTROPHE SCALE

You can’t escape stress but you can learn to manage it by regaining perspective.

The human brain can be a bit of a drama queen (meaning that often we make things out to be worse than they actually are). How we interpret a situation is key to our ability to cope with adversity. Putting the situation in perspective without catastrophising is a good place to start.

From here, looking at the situation with a different perspective to find some benefit that may come from the challenge is important. This is known as ‘flexible thinking’ or ‘reframing’. Reframing is a schema shift – a different way to perceive the same situation. Our ability to positively reframe our challenges and stressors is key to resilience. Your mind-set is your way of thinking, and your way of thinking can limit or empower you, in any number of ways.

THE A-Z OF MENTAL HEALTH

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Life-threatening illness for

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scratching car with shopping

trolley

TOP TIP• One of the simplest buffers to

lean on in the workplace is a strong peer network. Don’t try to do it all on your own, turn to your team for help in times of stress.

TOP TIPS• Consider having an alcohol free

work environment with a strong alcohol policy that prohibits workers from drinking during work time or at on-site work functions.

• Run a work place challenge like Dry July and incentivise participation and achievement.

• Promote the book The Naked Mind by Annie Grace to your people. It just might change their life.

DID YOU KNOW?The next time something goes wrong at work or during your day – give it a number form 1-10, where 10 is the worst thing that could ever possibly happen to you and a number 1 is of no consequence at all. By doing this simple quick mental exercise you will more easily keep things in perspective.

D – DAYDREAM

David Rock, (author of Your Brain at Work, 2006) explains research that shows that the brain makes unexpected “aha!” moments when we take a break from a problem and do other things.

Counter intuitively, sometimes when you are desperately trying to solve a problem, even on a tight deadline, the best thing to do is to take a break and do something else entirely. This allows the brain to idle and that is when that desperately sought ‘moment of insight’ may come.

E – EXERCISE

71% of the Australian working population is not getting enough physical activity, which is a real concern since we know that being physically active can reduce the risk of chronic disease and obesity2.

Being chronically ill takes a real toll on mental health, but the good news is that in many cases it can be turned around through lifestyle intervention. Workplace health programs can support employees reaching their daily activity needs, encouraging them to break up prolonged sitting and improve their overall health and wellbeing.

F – FORGIVENESS

Research has linked high levels of anger to an increased risk of developing high blood pressure3.

Young men who react quickly to stress with anger had three times the risk of developing early heart disease and were five times as likely to have early heart attacks4. In addition, a review of studies found that anger and hostility were linked to healthy people being more likely to develop coronary heart disease (CHD) and that anger and hostility lead to poor outcomes for people who already had the disease5.

Forgiveness strategies can be taught and can help manage anger and lessen its risks to health. Forgiveness isn’t about letting people get away with stuff, it’s about acknowledging your emotional response, working out your options and taking constructive action.

G – GRATITUDE

Broadly speaking, gratitude is defined as appreciating what we feel to be valuable.

Thankfully, what many of us struggle with isn’t having things to be grateful for, but remembering to take the time and reflect on these. And reflect we should, a number of studies have found a link between not just gratitude and mental health, but gratitude and overall wellbeing6.

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TOP TIPS• Forgive more easily.

TOP TIPS• Start your next meeting by

asking each person present to tell the group something they are thankful for today.

• Start your own gratitude diary and try to write a couple of entries per day.

TOP TIPS• Encourage walking or standing

meetings (they are a really simple way to break up sit time).

• Try encouraging employees to stand up whenever they’re on the phone and set calendar reminders to stand up for a minute every hour.

TOP TIP• Most of us have a range of duties

in our day to day jobs. The reality of work is that not all of them stoke the creative fire within. Look at what’s on your to do list for the day, when you hit a mental wall, scan down the list for a task that gives you a chance to get into a different mindset and reset for the other tasks ahead.

Young men who react quickly to stress

with anger had three times the risk of developing

early heart disease and were five times as likely

to have early heart attacks [4].

H – HABITS

Building resiliency starts with small steps. Lifelong tools need to be developed over a period of time.

This is why one off seminars have little effect in building real resilience and offer little when it comes to long term strategies to manage stress. So then where does an effective resiliency program start?

It starts by developing strategies and working with individuals to plan out what a good day looks like. This is the first effective step into turning those good days into good weeks, those good weeks into good months, and so on….until good years turn into a great life.

Ask us about The Good Day Project™ – a workplace resilience program based on experiential learning.

I – IMAGINARY THREAT

Our bodies are amazingly equipped to deal with a short term life threatening situation. When we perceive a threat, a rush of hormones kicks our bodies into action, sharpening our physical and mental response to help get us out of danger.

But the first problem with this is that this system is only meant for short term use; science shows us that being chronically in this state is linked to poor health outcomes7. The second problem is that our mind has a hard time determining the difference between a real threat to our safety and an imaginary one. Our body has the same basic physical response to finding out about a last minute work deadline as it does to being chased by a bear.

In the US, 69% of employees report work is a significant source of stress, 41% say they feel stressed or tense daily as part of a typical work day and workplace stress is estimated to cost $300 billion annually through diminished productivity, absenteeism, turnover, medical legal and insurance costs8. Stress is a part of the workplace, but part of building a healthy workforce is resourcing your team members to deal with this stress in an effective way.

J – JUMP TO ACTION

…and use your magic hours wisely. What are your magic hours? These are the 2-3 hours each day when you are on fire. You have clarity, energy and focus.

As unique individuals we differ in what time of the day our ‘magic hours’ occur. For many it is first thing in the morning and for others it is in the peace of the late afternoon. Regardless – understand at what time of the day you do your best work and then make sure to prioritise your most important work for this time. The brain has limited capacity for high quality (creative and problem solving work) each day.

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TOP TIPTake notice of what a good day looks and feels like for you. What are the routines and rituals that make it more likely for you to experience a ‘good day’?

TOP TIPPractice slow deep breathing. Having a calm space at your workplace can be really helpful in dealing with acute stress. Somewhere calm to take a few deep breaths and put things in perspective can make all the difference in reversing the physical response to stress.

TOP TIP• Use your magic hours

wisely and don’t waste them on work-like activities e.g., attending meetings and answering emails!

K – KINDNESS

It’s pretty obvious that when we display kindness it benefits the person who receives it, but did you know it also benefits the giver?

Research has shown that committing acts of kindness significantly increased the wellbeing of the person committing the acts9. Not just that, but logic tells us that kindness begets kindness, paying it forward helps us to build strong relationships and a sense community.

L – LEARNING

Often a source of stress is finding ourselves facing a task that we don’t feel we’re equipped for. It’s not an unwillingness to do the task or a doubt about the need for it to be done, but simply being at a loss of how to effectively tackle it.

Productive employees are ones that continue to engage in professional development so that they feel confident, equipped and eager for new challenges, rather than stressed and anxious.

M – MINDFULNESS

Mindfulness is simply being in the present moment. As Lao Tzu put it “in work do what you enjoy, in family life be completely present”.

Mindfulness is understanding that this is your life, happening now. Sometimes we are guilty of putting ‘our happiness on hold’ until we just achieve that next goal…losing five kilos or getting that promotion. Remember success is in the journey, not just the destination.

N – NATURE

Did you know that science shows us links between exposure to nature and elevated health and mood? Research has found that spending time in nature can improve social bonds.

For example, people in urban housing developments who frequent green public spaces spoke more to other people, were more likely to know their neighbours and felt a great sense of community10. Exposure to such areas was also associated with less aggression11. The “attention restoration hypothesis” also suggests that natural stimuli helps reduce mental fatigue12.

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TOP TIP• Research shows that participants

who committed 6 acts of kindness in a single day saw a greater increase in wellbeing than those who committed 6 acts across a week. So try and purposely earmark a day each week to reach out to as many people as you can with simple acts of kindness.

TOP TIP• Professional development doesn’t

necessarily need to be expensive or time consuming. In most workplaces we’re surrounded by peers whose expertise is in a wide range of areas we’re not familiar with. Pick the brains of your peers regularly to help get skilled up and build better relationships on the workplace.

TOP TIP• The pause that refreshes. Before

walking through the front door to your family after a busy day at work. Stop, close your eyes and breathe in and out slowly and deeply. As you exhale let all your work-related issues fall away. Then you can walk through the front door to your family with more singleness of purpose.

TOP TIP• Green spaces can be a simple

way of bringing these powerful benefits to a work environment. Think living wall, picnic area – even just greenery inside the office can help.

O – OVERWORK

“No amount of multivitamins, meditation, exercise, super foods or extreme time management is going to save us from the effects of too much work,” says psychotherapist Zoe Krupka. “This is not something we can adapt to. The insidious culture of overwork is deafening and the only way we can really feel better is if we can find a way to make it stop”

A recent study by John Pencavel of Stanford University shows that employee output falls sharply after a 50-hour working week and falls off the cliff after 55 hours, with those putting in 70 hours producing nothing more in those extra 15 hours. We perform at our best when we find the right dynamic balance between work, rest and play.

P – POSITIVE EMOTIONS

There’s a lot more to mental resiliency than just thinking positively and in certain situations being illogically optimistic can be downright dangerous, but that doesn’t mean positive emotions aren’t a piece of the larger puzzle that is mental health.

Humour and laughter strengthen the immune system, reduce pain, lower blood pressure (over time), relax muscles and reduce blood levels of stress related hormones13.

Q – QUICKLY AND POLITELY SAY NO

Learn the power of a graceful “no” and free up your time to focus on the important aspects of your job. The aspects that will help you achieve your overall goals.

LinkedIN CEO Jeff Weiner see’s “fewer things done better” as the most powerful mechanism for leadership there is. Say no to really good opportunities in order to pursue better ones. Remember you don’t have to accept every meeting invite you are sent. Ask yourself, is this really the best use of my limited and valuable time and energy today?

R – RELATIONSHIPS

Other people matter. The top 10% of consistently very happy people are highly social and have stronger social relationships than less happy people. But how do you build strong relationships?

A key to this is remembering that people (whether they are work colleagues, family or friends) will quickly forget your actual words but they will remember how you made them feel. When people you care about tell you good news, how do you typically respond? While we sometimes respond constructively, very often our response remains passive (we are preoccupied), and, at times we can even be destructive (rushing off our own negative opinions, or doubts about the ramifications of this news).

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TOP TIP• Management needs to model

the work balance they’d like to see for their employees. Rather than responding to emails as normal, when on annual leave senior managers should only be contactable in an emergency to send a message to employees on what’s expected during personal time.

TOP TIP• Workplaces don’t have to be all

serious and scary. One of the simplest ways to bring some positive emotions into the work day is to provide an attractive communal space for employees to share meals and connect with one another in a relaxed, happy environment.

DID YOU KNOW?• When saying no, it doesn’t

mean you’re unwilling to help co-workers. Maybe you can suggest another person who can help them or maybe you can contribute to their cause in another way that makes better use of your time?

TOP TIP• The next time your partner has

good news to share with you – really listen and engage with them and practice this technique.

The top 10% of consistently very happy people are highly social and

have stronger social relationships than less

happy people.

Of the different communication styles studied, the most effective for cultivating strong supportive relationships is “active constructive” - meaning we are fully engaged in the conversation, probing for more details of the event, really listening to what they say, quizzing them about when they got the good news, how they’re going to celebrate etc. Active construction responding validates the person relaying the news, making them and their opinions feel valued and respected. “I just received preapproval to buy a house!” * Active and Constructive – “That’s wonderful. You guys have been saving so hard. What did your partner say? Have you found a place you want?”.

S – SLEEP

An Australian study found that after just 17 hours without sleep, a person’s response speed can be reduced by 50% and their performance can be worse than someone with a blood alcohol level of 0.05%.

On top of this, other research has found a U-shaped relationship between average sleep duration and BMI. People with an average of 7.7 hours of sleep a night tended to have the lowest BMIs, with BMIs tending to rise above or below this number. This effect was especially pronounced for the shorter sleepers.

So not getting enough sleep can lead to team members with an increased risk of chronic disease and impaired physical and mental performance. Workplaces who want to get the best, most efficient work out of their employees need to help them prioritise sleep.

T – TIME (AND SPACE)

To solve problems and be creative you need time and space. When was the last time you set aside distraction-free time and distraction-free space to really think about a problem you need to solve?

Once the inevitable mind-racing subsides, allow yourself to think innovatively and patiently about something you want to improve or a problem you want to solve.

U – USE YOUR STRENGTHS

Gallup research found that only 20% of individuals reported a strong yes to the question “Do you like what you do each day?” Those that were less engaged also had higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

There is a strong connection between wellbeing and the use of signature strengths because strengths helps us make progress on our goals and meet our basic needs for independence, relationship, and competence. Research shows that the use of one’s top strengths leads to a decreased likelihood of depression and stress and an increase in satisfaction in law students.

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TOP TIP• Just like you would schedule in

a meeting or a weekly exercise routine, schedule in 7-8 hours of sleep daily. It’s not lost time, it’s an investment in your best asset – YOU!

TOP TIP• Encourage your employees to

block out 90 minutes in their diaries each week, or fortnight or month to turn off their phone and email and take themselves somewhere quiet.

TOP TIP• Actively working to ensure

employees are used in their areas of strength can lead to a more engaged and therefore healthier and more productive workforce.

Feeling useful is key to good mental health. Conversely, we know that sustained unemployment can be incredibly damaging to wellbeing and this is because an individual no longer feels they are contributing and what they have to offer adds value.

V – VITALITY

So we know the importance of sleep, getting regular exercise and eating a healthy diet, but real vitality is when we can get these three all working together in perfect balance.

Getting adequate rest makes it easier to make good choices throughout the day and leaves us feeling energised enough to fit in that daily workout. Getting that daily workout in then contributes to the quality of the sleep we get that night and tying it all together is the nutrition. By building a diet on unprocessed foods we can power ourselves throughout the day (without the highs and lows in energy that can derail ‘a once productive day’).

W – WELL-DOING FOR WELLBEING

Happiness is largely determined by our thoughts and actions.

What we choose to ‘do’ and how we choose to think on a daily basis makes the biggest difference to our happiness and wellbeing. Well-doing is about creating healthy habits. Well-doing is about less talk and more action.

X – XEBEC

What on earth is a Xebec? It’s a small three-masted ship once common in the Mediterranean.

Being a smaller ship, a xebec isn’t able to carry anywhere near the weight that a modern cruise ship could without quickly taking on water and sinking. That doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with xebecs, they can be incredibly useful as long as they’re not carrying too much weight.

And it’s the same with people and stress. Some people seem to have an enormous capacity to take on stress, almost like it energises them, while others have a really low capacity for it. So rather than comparing ourselves to others, we need to be aware and pay attention to how much stress we can take on before we can no longer keep our boat afloat.

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TOP TIP• You probably know that to ensure

a good night’s sleep, it’s a good idea to avoid caffeine late in the day. But did you know that alcohol is a sleep disrupter too? Alcohol can make us feel drowsy, which might make it easier to fall asleep initially, but it stops the body from getting into the deeper phases of sleep, leading to a disrupted, poor quality snooze.

TOP TIP• Encourage employees to try out

new ideas for themselves by way of simple one-week experiments. Not convinced going to bed one hour earlier each night will actually make any difference? Then try it for yourself and see.

TOP TIP• Be proactive with keeping your

boat afloat. You never know when unexpected stress is just around the corner, so regularly make use of stress relieving strategies before you find yourself overloaded.

Y – YELLOW

For some of us, yellow can be a very important colour when it comes to mental health.

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that’s linked with the changing seasons, most commonly affecting people in the autumn and winter months. So why yellow? Well it’s that’s yellow sun in the sky that we see less of in the colder months that’s linked to the disorder, with light therapy commonly used as a treatment.

But the impact of sunlight on our mental health doesn’t stop with SAD. Sunlight also plays an integral role in setting our body clocks, letting our bodies know when it’s time to rest and re-energise and when it’s time to get up and get going for the day. Too much unprotected sun exposure can be hazardous to our health, but so can hiding in an office away from the sun for weeks at a time.

Z – ZEBRAS DON’T GET ULCERS.

In his book Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers, Robert M Sapolsky looks at the idea of how members of the animal kingdom handle stress.

When a zebra sees a lion charging down at it, it has an immediate, natural stress response. It goes straight into fight or flight mode (presumably all the smart zebras choose flight. But then once the immediate danger is gone, the zebra quickly goes back to a relaxed state. Unlike people, the zebra doesn’t appear to chronically worry about the possibility or another lion being just around the corner. It’s not chewing on grass fretting about whether it was grown organically. It’s not worrying about whether or not the other zebras are saying things behind its back.

Humans are wired in a way that makes us plan for and worry about the future. When harnessed properly, it’s one of our best traits, enabling us to achieve many great things. At its worst, it can leave us in a state of chronic low level stress, constantly worried about what’s around the next corner. While we can’t prevent people from worrying about anything, we can create and promote environments that foster a sense of safety and minimise stress.Team members can then focus their forward thinking on achievement rather than worry.

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TOP TIP• When it comes to setting our body

clocks, our body doesn’t seem to notice the difference between sunlight and most artificial light. To help ensure good quality sleep, make shutting all light out of your bedroom a part of your regular sleeping routine.

TOP TIP• The next time you’re feeling

anxious at work, take a moment to pause and try and clarify what the worry is. Putting it in perspective and reminding yourself of how you plan to deal with the issue can help you feel in charge rather than anxious.

55 STEPS to Creating a

Mentally Healthy Workplace

CHANGING THE CULTURE

5 Steps to Creating a Mentally Healthy Workplace

1. Measure the Mental Health Profile of your workforce

Begin any mental health strategy by capturing your organisational statistics around the prevalence of depression, stress, and/or anxiety in your company. Use a validated and credible tool (such as our Wellbeing360) to ensure that your employees are reassured that all information they provide is confidential. Present the aggregated findings to both Senior and middle-level managers.

5. Design with empathy

Empathy simply means seeing things from all sides. Empathy when dealing and interacting with your employees means being mindful of the other things that may be going on in their lives. The majority of people will experience times when they have at least one ‘unmentionable’ (divorce, credit card debt and so forth) going on. So have a range of support options available for managers and staff to pick and choose from.

2. Create a business casePut together a business case to support the reduction of mental ill-health and the promotion of a resilient and productive workforce. Include detail of potential return on investment through improved productivity and reduced absenteeism and injury.

3. Educate managers

Educating managers on the hazards of stress and the benefits of having mentally healthy workplace is essential to creating an environment where staff will feel comfortable asking for help. A good success strategy is to involve leaders in the policy making, once they understand the importance of promoting a mentally well workplace.

4. Involve all employees in resiliency training.

Learning and behaviour change is about physically changing the structure and pathways in the brain. This takes time and repetition. Remember, just attending a resilience workshop will not make you more resilient just as attending a fitness workshop won’t help your fitness. Look for resiliency training programs that cater for all types of employees and are primarily based on experiential learning.

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FOR ORGANISATIONS FOR INDIVIDUALS

SUPPORT OPTIONS

1. Comcare, A.G.-. Alcohol in the workplace. 2014 29 Oct 2014 [cited 2016 March]; Available from: https://www.comcare.gov.au/preventing/hazards/psychosocial_hazards/alcohol.

2. [cited 2016 March]; Available from: http://www.healthyworkers.gov.au/internet/hwi/publishing.nsf/Content/movemore.

3. Player, M.S., et al., Psychosocial factors and progression from prehypertension to hypertension or coronary heart disease. Ann Fam Med, 2007. 5(5): p. 403-11.

4 Chang, P.P., et al., Anger in young men and subsequent premature cardiovascular disease: the precursors study. Arch Intern Med, 2002. 162(8): p. 901-6.

5. Chida, Y. and A. Steptoe, The association of anger and hostility with future coronary heart disease: a meta-analytic review of prospective evidence. J Am Coll Cardiol, 2009. 53(11): p. 936-46.

6. Sansone, R.A. and L.A. Sansone, Gratitude and well being: the benefits of appreciation. Psychiatry (Edgmont), 2010. 7(11): p. 18-22.

7. Terre, L., Is there a connection between diabetes and psychological dysfunction? American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 2010. 4: p. 481-4.

8. Association, A.P., Psychologically Healthy Workplace Program: Fact Sheet. 2010.

9. Lyubomirsky, S.S., K.M. Schkade, D., Pursuing happiness: The architecture of sustainable change. Review of General Psychology 2005. 9(2): p. 111-131.

10 .Kuo, F.E., Coping with poverty: Impacts of environment and attention in the inner city. Environment and Behavior, 2001. 33(1): p. 5-34.

11. Kuo, F.E., Aggression and violence in the inner city: Effects of environment via mental fatigue. Environment and Behavior, 2001. 33(4): p. 543-71.

12. Kaplan, S., The restorative benefits of nature: Towards an integrative framework. Journal of Environmental Psychiatry, 1995. 15(3): p. 169-82.

13. McGhee, P., Humor: The lighter path to resilience and health. 2010: Author House.

14. Williamson, A.M. and A.M. Feyer, Moderate sleep deprivation produces impairments in cognitive and motor performance equivalent to legally prescribed levels of alcohol intoxication. Occup Environ Med, 2000. 57(10): p. 649-55.

15. Taheri, S., et al., Short sleep duration is associated with reduced leptin, elevated ghrelin, and increased body mass index. PLoS Med, 2004. 1(3): p. e62.

16. Seligman, M.E.P., Flourish : a visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. 1st Free Press hardcover ed. 2011, New York: Free Press. xii, 349 p.

17. Clark, A., Lags and leads in life satisfaction: a test of the baseline hypothesis. The Economic Journal, 2008. 118(529): p. F222-43.

18. Rath, T.H., J., Wellbeing: the five essential elements. 2010. p. 15.

www.beyondblue.org.au

Talk it through with their Support Service on PH 1300 22 4636

Email or chat online at www.beyondblue.org.au/getsupport

Workplace specific information and resources can be found at www.headsup.org.au

vitalityworks.com.au PH 1300 647 000

‘The Good Day Project’ is an evidence-based, blended learning program which brings together three core bands of resilience, to build a happier, more resilient employee:

1. Physical Vitality

2. Mental and Emotional Agility

3. Positive Relationships

It enables more capacity for the good stuff, an ability to reframe limiting thought patterns and expand out developmentally from a resilient core. The Good Day Project is going to help you integrate a number of ‘Good Ideas’ into your daily routine to help you be the best you can be.

The ‘Good Ideas’ (think of them as personal challenges or self-experiments) are all based on the three core strands of resilience that are at the heart of this program.

• Lifeline PH 13 11 14

• Suicide Call Back Service PH 1300 659 467

• Men’s Line Australia PH 1300 78 99 78

• SANE PH 1800 18 SANE (7263) www.sane.org

• A local GP

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Vitality Works is a leading Australasian provider of workplace health solutions. From on-site health assessments and injury prevention, to fun wellbeing programs that run on our cutting edge technology platforms. Vitality Works partners with organisations of all sizes to create: Healthy People > Thriving BusinessAUSTRALIA vitalityworks.com.au PH 1300 647 000 | NEW ZEALAND vitalityworks.co.nz PH 0800 222 949

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