Deborah Bell shares advice on how to manage if one of your team is struggling with their mental health…
Anyone can develop mental ill health at any time in their life. And according to the charity Mind, around a quarter of people in the UK will experience a mental health issue each year.
Mental health in dentistry
Surveys and statistics also suggest that poor mental health is relatively widespread among dentists.
For example, the results of the 2019 Dentistry Confidence Monitor survey, carried out by our sister company Practice Plan, has showed that 84% of NHS dentists and 51% of private dentists believe their current role has negatively affected their mental health.
It also showed that 92% of NHS and 21% of private dentists feel unhappy about their ability to carry out their work without feeling overly stressed.
A 2019 survey by the BDA revealed that almost half of dentists say stress in their job is exceeding their ability to cope and almost a fifth had seriously thought about suicide.
Whether it’s the dentist(s) in your practice, a member of the front desk or a dental care professional, a mental health issue could affect any member of your team. So, it can be wise to have a plan of how you can both support them and keep the business running smoothly.
Most people want to support a team member through an incidence of mental ill health because it is the ‘right thing to do’. But from an objective, professional point of view there are also benefits of having mentally healthy people on your team, such as reduced staff absence and turnover, better staff morale and better customer service.
Space to talk and listen
One way in which you can support a colleague who may be struggling with their mental health is by offering them a safe space to talk and be prepared to listen to them non-judgementally.
For example, don’t try to finish their sentences and allow periods of silence – somebody may be trying to work out how to say something.
Use your body language and simple responses that let them know you’re listening. Don’t sit opposite them, sit beside them or at 90 degrees. It’s more friendly and feels less formal and less confrontational.
It can be a tricky balance between wanting to help and letting them know you care, and acting in a way that might make them feel they shouldn’t show how upset they are.
A natural instinct is to offer tissues or water, but this kind of thing can make them think you’re trying to get them to stop being upset. Instead, you can reassure them that it’s OK to be upset, stressed, anxious, etc and that they can take as much time as they need.
When your team member is off work
If you have a team member who is off work due to mental ill health, it’s recommended to stay in touch with them in a moderately informal way. By letting them know what’s been going on at work, such as a change in someone’s hairstyle or a particular success, you can help them to still feel part of the team without putting any pressure on them.
It can be useful to make it a scheduled update, e.g. after a chat on the phone you could agree that you’ll call again on a specific day and time. If you and your team member think it would be good to meet in person to talk, it is often better to do this outside of the practice.
The most important thing is not to demand that they come back to work. Perhaps introduce the subject into conversation as part of making a plan of how they’re going to come back when they’re ready.
Helping them return to work
When someone does feel ready to come back to work after being off with a mental ill health issue, it is important to plan how that will happen.
Often, at least at first, it will be helpful to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ and these should be mutually agreed.
Reasonable adjustments can be: starting part-time, finding which part of their job is the most stressful for them and reallocating roles around the team so someone else does that, a change of site or role entirely, or allowing the person to come into the practice informally before a return to work so that they can meet their colleagues again over a cup of tea for a chat to ease them back in.
As part of this plan, it’s wise to consider how you will handle the rest of the team. Honesty is the best policy when it comes to this.
Creating a working environment that allows for open and honest discussion will help to prevent any gossip, speculation or even back-stabbing that can occur when people feel someone is getting preferential treatment and don’t know why.
