In January 2021, Clark and Lavey’s HR Practice Leader Jennifer Hayes hosted a webinar with addiction medicine doctor and anesthesiologist, Dr. David Deyhimy. Dr. Deyhimy is the founder and medical director of MYMATCLINIC, a clinic that offers individualized addiction treatment for patients and families in an office-based setting. He and his team apply HR strategies that remove barriers and improve engagement for their patients every day. In the webinar, Dr. Deyhimy shared five simple, stress-reducing behaviors that employers and HR professionals can encourage to help boost employee wellness and mental health in the workplace.
Today, the value of and need for these kinds of healthy, practical habits are as relevant as ever. Stress and depression do not need to be inevitabilities in our lives. Joy and happiness can be the defining characteristics of our personal and work lives. Informed by our very biology, Dr. Deyhimy offers the following behaviors as practical pathways to improved mental health.
Encourage Exercise to Support Employee Wellness
“Health is the vital principle of bliss, and exercise, of health.”
James Thomson
In our webinar, Dr. Deyhimy highlighted the importance of the mind/body connection to produce lower levels of stress and higher levels of happiness. None of the five behaviors he mentioned target this more directly than the need to engage in regular exercise. Deyhimy states, “Moderate exercise for 45-60 minutes, 3 times a week or more is equally as effective as taking a pill for depression.”
But it gets even better when we examine the long-term outcomes of a regular exercise routine vs. medication. Clinical trials comparing these two approaches found that feelings of depression returned for most of those who stopped medicating. In contrast, a person who had been exercising would experience an enduring antidepressant effect that lasted months – even after they stopped exercising. Furthermore, while the negative side effects of medications are well-documented, consider the benefits of a healthy exercise regimen. They include results such as:
- Lowered blood pressure
- Autoimmune health
- Endorphin generation
- Weight loss
- Better sleep
Developing a regular exercise routine has numerous benefits that can naturally ease symptoms of depression or anxiety. However, if you are currently taking anti-depressant medication or are in need of medication, please consult with your physician about necessary dosage.
Regular Sleep Can Improve Mental Health in the Workplace
“Sleep is the single most effective thing we can do to reset our brain and body health each day — Mother Nature’s best effort yet at contra-death.”
Matthew Walker, Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams
The second behavior Dr. Deyhimy shared to combat chronic stress hormones and neurotransmitters (and boost employee wellness) was adequate sleep. A restorative, daily sleep provides our bodies the environment to generate feel-good and motivating hormones of oxytocin and dopamine. Avoiding caffeine, screen time, alcohol, and sugar before bed positions us well for a deeper, more restorative sleep. These behaviors are referred to as “sleep hygiene”, so as an employer or HR professional, you should encourage them to improve employee mental health in the workplace.
Dr. Deyhimy warns that, despite millions of years of evolution demonstrating how sleep is critical to all organisms, “people are the only species that basically will trade sleep off in order to go do something else. No other species do that… The effects of this are devastating.” A lack of sleep leaves our immune systems severely compromised. Clinicians have observed reduced efficiency of t-cells (the “hunters” that detect and eradicate such things as viruses, bacteria, and precancer) by about 80% after a person has been deprived of sleep for 24 hours. A consistent, restorative sleep cycle can improve employee wellness by providing a foundation for a healthier and happier life.
Allow for Meaningful Social Interaction in the Workday
“When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.”
Maya Angelou
The fact that humans are, by our very nature, communal beings has certainly been reinforced as we have navigated our way through a global pandemic. It comes as no surprise, then, that meaningful social interaction has a direct and significant benefit to our mental health. Even when in-person interaction is not possible, Dr. Deyhimy reassured us that any form of contact and connection is better than isolation for employee wellness. While face-to-face is an ideal platform for socialization, even a video conference or phone call to an employee can foster happiness and reduce the stressful responses our bodies have to isolation. To boost mental health in the workplace (in-person or virtually) engage in activities that directly benefit others. Deyhimy stated these have “been shown to produce some of the highest levels of happiness for the actual giver and, of course, the receiver of the help.”
Consuming Less Divisive Media Can Improve Mental Health in the Workplace
“Every decision you make, makes you. Never let other people choose who you’re going to be.”
Cassandra Clare, The Lost Herondale
This next behavior is unique from the other four in that it highlights an intentional avoidance rather than adoption of influential activities. Dr. Deyhimy explains that we can avoid increased feelings of anxiety and depression by limiting our consumption of social media and divisive news. This includes work activities such as “batching” email (only checking messages at set times of day) and personal habits such as avoiding your phone for at least one hour a day, putting it aside hours before bed and not bringing it into the bedroom with you.
Studies presented by the American Society of Addiction Medicine demonstrate that the parts of the brain involved when someone engages with certain two-way social media platforms mirrors that of someone addicted to an illicit drug. These applications leverage the same cognitive vulnerabilities that slot machines in gambling parlors exploit. And all the same increased levels of anxiety and depression accompany them – particularly among the younger population. Dr. Deyhimy’s offers the following admonition, “I encourage people just to realize that, although it feels good, it can become an addiction. And, like anything else, if you use it too much it’ll probably decrease your quality of life.”
Set Achievable Goals for Optimal Employee Wellness
“I don’t focus on what I’m up against. I focus on my goals, and I try to ignore the rest.”
Venus Williams
The final behavior Dr. Deyhimy promotes is as powerful as it is practical. “It’s extremely important for people to set goals- especially goals that provide you with optimism, which is hope. [Being] incentivized greatly improves the chances of us following through with behavior change.” Goals provide a framework with timelines and accountability to achieve targets that are important to us. Our plans will be most powerful if they are written down and align with our values. Particularly when people are struggling, it is incredibly helpful to refer back to the motivations and action plans that initiated the goal.
Asking an employee to “shoot for the stars” may make them feel overwhelmed or stressed. Sometimes, they can benefit immensely by achieving one, small goal at a time. This simple behavior builds confidence and provides a foundation for setting and achieving other, more ambitious goals. Deyhimy points out that some goals can feel like “the most overwhelming thing in the world; but if we break it down into small little pieces and get small wins, then we can start piecing them together and make real change.”
Accountability is another powerful aspect of goal setting that Dr. Deyhimy emphasized. “Tell other people about what your change is going to be. What we like to do (at MYMATCLINIC) is enlist support and accountability from family members, friends, and employers.” When you have told others “This is the year that I am going to do this one thing,” it provides a strong foundation from which to pursue and, ultimately, achieve your goal.
Gather More Helpful Insights and Strategies
Start employing these helpful strategies in your workplace today. Then, contact us to gather more valuable advice and support to improve employee wellness and mental health in the workplace. Our HR support services can help you create a more engaged and productive work environment that leads to the best outcomes for you and your organization. Our helpful team would be happy to help you.