Back by popular demand, renowned psychologist, researcher and author Dr. Rheeda Walker and Calm’s Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Chris Mosunic teamed up to answer audience questions about mental health.
In “Cultivating Your Calm: Ask the Experts,” moderated by Carolyn DiVine, Calm vice president of policy and communication, Dr. Walker and Dr. Mosunic offer simple and effective strategies for supporting mental health and well-being in the workplace.
Here are 5 takeaways from their discussion. We encourage you to watch the webinar in its entirety.
1. “Psychological fortitude” is a helpful way to think and talk about mental health
Walker says her research about the African American mental health crisis led her to develop the concept of “psychological fortitude,” a way of thinking and talking about mental health that breaks through stigma and common misconceptions, like the belief that mental health is only for people with severe mental or emotional challenges. Psychological fortitude considers a person’s sources of strength and resilience to protect themselves and their family members, rather than their risk factors, she explains.
Psychological fortitude is a 0 to 10 self-rating of one’s capacity to manage their emotional, mental, and physical well-being; to tap into their gifts and talents to pursue their life purpose, and to care for family members, says Walker. It’s also the ability to ward off threats to one’s humanity, such as microaggressions and racism, that take a real psychological toll.
“So it’s a lot, but we boil it down to a 0 to 10 rating. Zero is ‘I can’t do any of that,’ and 10 is ‘I’m cooking with grease.”
2. Simple, pleasant activities can incrementally improve employees’ psychological fortitude
Supporting employee mental health starts with establishing a cultural expectation that mental health is important, Walker says. From there, managers can let employees know that they’ll kick off the effort by assessing how they’re feeling and ask them to rate their own psychological fortitude (PF). If employees are rating their PF in the 4 to 6 range, for example, then something needs to shift, says Walker. “There has to be an intervention. . .It doesn’t have to be anything big, but we do have to do something that is notable and meaningful,” like ordering in lunch or shortening the day.
“It could be as simple as an activity,” Mosunic adds. “What does the group like to do? Oh, we like to go for a walk. Cool, let’s all go for a walk for 15 minutes.” He recommends doing an online search for pleasant activity scheduling. “You’ll find hundreds and hundreds of ideas, and many of them can be mapped onto a group or a workplace intervention, and it’s all free.”
When we have depression or anxiety, he explains, “we think nothing’s going to make us happy, but we’re totally wrong.” Doing a simple, pleasant activity can elevate moods “so that everybody can start participating and be their best selves.”
“It’s worth it just to try something new,” says Walker. “And even to acknowledge for the group, ‘I don’t know if this is going to help, but I’m willing to to try something different’ and model the willingness to just do something different than what we’ve always done. I’ve found that people really appreciate that honesty.
“Every small thing is going to incrementally boost psychological fortitude,” she adds. “But it starts with having an understanding about the culture and then making sure to be responsive to whatever it is that folks are saying is where they find themselves.”
3. Offering a distraction can be an effective, stress-free way to support overwhelmed coworkers
Supporting overwhelmed coworkers can quickly become an all-consuming activity, usurping valuable time and creating stress for the person offering support.
One way to support others without playing the role of therapist is to offer a coworker a distraction, suggests Walker. “Sometimes people really don’t want to be talking about the issue that they’re struggling most with, but they might just want to do something like have a meal, go to happy hour.” She also recommends asking them about the things that have been going well, “because a lot of people who are struggling lose sight of the things that have worked in their favor.”
When coworkers talk about their problems, Mosunic’s “go-to” is to ask if they’ve tried Calm or Calm Health. He stresses the need for more trusted resources like Calm that people can turn to, particularly at a time when mental health is being talked about in the workplace rather than hidden away in the attic as it once was.
“We need to be better with go-tos for having resources that match up cultures, ethnicities, LGBTQ+. There’s so much there that when you match up people with care that they’re seeking and speaking to them in the language they want to hear and are familiar with, that’s where you get amazing connections, results, you name it. [Calm] is already helping a lot of people, but people have preferences, and we need to create an entire ecosystem that’s going to match up with where a person is at and what they prefer.”
4. Building resilience is about finding the right level of stress in your life
“Resilience is like bending but not breaking,” says Mosunic. “When it comes to building resilience in ourselves, there’s no one size fits all, not even close, but it’s about finding the right level of stress.
“When we take on good stress, we take on a challenge that scares us a little bit, takes us out of our comfort zone, and then we’re able to face the problem, address it, and go after it. We get a sense of mastery that we did something,” he adds.
For Mosunic, morning exercise is a ritual for keeping his stress in check. “If you do your exercise early in the day, you’re shifting the hormonal milieu and your mindset so that when stress comes, you’re less likely to get paralyzed with fear, period.”
The morning exercise ritual comes from the military, he explains. “You get ready so that when the stress comes, you’re able to deal with it and not freeze up. You’re able to think through and not be a danger to yourself or others. Exercise for stress relief and resilience building before anything starts is super powerful.”
It’s important not to think you’re going to be stress free, Mosunic adds. “A good life means that you’re holding the tension between bad stress and good stress.”
5. When you see a shift in someone at work, let them know
Managers wanting to better support employee mental health can simply be on the lookout for shifts in their behavior. “Oftentimes people notice when there is a shift in someone’s behavior, there’s a shift in their presentation or their mood or their activity level,” says Walker. “And when you see a shift, . . .you don’t have to be deep. . .Just state your observation.”
She suggests letting them know you’ve noticed a shift, because it can feel good to be seen sometimes. Or perhaps the person isn’t even aware of how they’re really feeling and how it’s bubbling out.
If the person responds that they’re fine, there’s no further responsibility, she adds. “We don’t have to put pressure on people who aren’t willing or ready to talk about the things that they’re dealing with. But it is our responsibility when we see something to say something.”
“What you didn’t say was, you should go get help. You should go to the EAP,” Mosunic responds. “Because we know that doesn’t work. . .You tell somebody in the workplace [to get help] and that is pretty much a guarantee that they’re not going to get the resources.
“But having a plethora of resources available so that when a person is made aware of the problem, either through themselves or through a colleague, that they have choices, they can start that helping process. That’s the way to do it. You can lead the horse to water, but you cannot tell them that they should get mental health help. That will never work.”
For more insights from Dr. Walker and Dr. Mosunic, access the webinar recording here.
Dr. Rheeda Walker, a licensed clinical psychologist, tenured professor, and author, has dedicated nearly two decades to helping people in the Black community combat stigma, practice emotional well-being, build resilience, and get the best possible care in an unequal system. She wrote The Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health and The Unapologetic Workbook for Black Mental Health to help people understand and overcome the impacts of racial trauma.
For more information on proactively supporting employee mental health and well-being, check out our pricing or connect with a Calm specialist today.
