Belize Observes World Mental Health Day with Focus on Workplace Well-being

Today is World Mental Health Day, a day marked by United Nations countries to focus on the importance of mental health to a person’s overall well-being.  Throughout the country, the Ministry of Health and Wellness has been holding activities in collaboration with the private sector, keeping with this year’s focus of mental health in the workplace. Ingrid Bonilla, Psychiatric Nurse with the Ministry explained that the Ministry has been visiting business over the past few months, leading up to today. She says that the ministry’s sessions showed employers how neglecting the mental health of their staff can negatively affect workplace productivity. The ministry also spoke with employees about the importance of prioritizing their mental health, so it doesn’t hinder job performance.

Ingrid Bonilla, Psychiatric Nurse, Ministry of Health and Wellness: “We promote that in work places that organizations do their best to create that space for their staff where they know that they are supported by the organization and ensuring that whatever is done encompasses that camaraderie as well as team work within the work place. Each district has a mental health team that works under the Ministry of Health and Wellness. Each distric-t is doing different and various activities in order to promote this day. If you don’t know how to destress. If you don’t know how to look out for you first you cannot look out for a business that’s a totally different entity apart from yourself. So you come first, you who then joined the business place who then builds the community. So we all play a big important role within our own communities. So as a result of that yes it can affect business places because while you have sick leave as mentioned before you’ll have those who may decide listen this job isn’t cutting it for me they can leave it’s not just sick leave they can leave the workplace in itself and as a result of that then you have this staff turnover where business places have to keep hiring, rehiring, hiring, rehiring and so it affects them yes.”

But the day is used to mark mental health at all levels, even for those who might not have a job or even a home. The Welcome Resource Center in Belize City serves a special subset of the population, those who are homeless, suffering from the effects of substance abuse, and the mentally ill. Administrator Tina Gill said that she held a session with the center’s clients to discuss what things they can do to improve their mental health.

Tina Gil , Administrator, Welcome Resource Center: “In general we are all affected by by mental health in the sense of how we cope with the different life circumstances that we are in for that particular time in our lives and if we’re not paying attention to taking care of the mind and involving ourselves in things that will help us to cope then we start to get into what the mind will start to deteriorate. Some of the behaviors and some of the things that we’ve seen and as I mentioned earlier some of our members are homeless and homelessness is a result of substance abuse. Also as a result of traumas that have been experienced in their lives. And every person there’s a possibility that every person can have or experience something that is so traumatic that would then result in some form of where you would see that extreme case. Actually earlier today I had a little sit down with our members and just talking about mental health ,highlighting the fact that today is mental health what do we do to take care of our mental health based on their life circumstances. Some of them the different stresses they have in their lives is actually thinking about where they’re going to sleep tonight. And you could imagine the fear the escalates within themselves about thinking about “okay where am I going to sleep tonight. Is it going to provide some sort of safety to me ? Is it going to provide some sort of warmth to me ?”

Gill called on the public to look after their mental health by taking time out of each day to reflect on their mental state and seek help if they feel overwhelmed.