Blogger Lori Dwyer To Share Her Story At Healthivate

Today there is much commentary in the media about mental health in the workplace thanks to a new survey report released by SANE. The survey of more than 500 workers found 95 per cent felt their employers were uneducated about mental illness and needed training to manage its effects.

One of speakers at the forthcoming bloggers conference Healthivate is Lori Dwyer. We spoke today about her own experience with a loved one struggling with depression...

Here's a quick recount of that discussion:

Just over three years ago, Lori Dwyer decided she needed a hobby before she sold her kids to the highest bidder on eBay. She discovered blogging, and started her own- RRSAHM. What was a very normal life exploded in January 2011, when everything changed- Lori’s much loved husband passed away, leaving her, at 29 years old, a suicide widow and single mum to two tiny children.

She spoke to me candidly about in the aftermath of her husband's tragic death she discovered how he had been soldiering on whilst enduring work place bullying and a convergent of stresses in life. Lori said her husband had been suffering from depression. She missed the signals, men can be so good at holding back and not sharing when things aren't going so well.

Lori says her blog became a place for support andy the blogging community rallied around her. Two years later and Lori continues to share her experiences and insights on everything from grief and sex to love and parenting. You can find Lori on Twitter. 

The Nature of Happiness - Managing Workplace stress and depression

One of the keynotes I deliver is a series of personal stories of journeys to happiness for the workplace. This keynote is inspirational and helps to destigmatise workplace stress and in its worst form depression. In fact there is a lot workplaces can do to improve the workplace environment for their staff simply by adding a touch of nature to the office. Experts often encourage people to simply get grounded in nature to manage stress, things like going for a walk, enjoying a beautiful landscape and so on.

Here are some facts about workplace stress and depression:

You can help by:

Building Positive awareness around Depression and encourage your employees to be resilient to workplace stress. Awareness helps to:
#increase knowledge
# decrease stigma
# improves attitudes
# increases confidence to assist someone to seek help.


FACTS

More than one million people in Australia experience depression, anxiety or related alcohol and drug problems

Depression is currently the leading cause of non-fatal disability in Australia, but only 3 per cent of the population identifies it as a major health problem

Each year, undiagnosed depression in the workplace costs $4.3 billion in lost productivity and this excludes Workcover/insurance claims, part-time or casual employees, retrenchment, recruitment and training problems each year.

On average, every full-time employee with untreated depression costs an organisation $9,665 per year

Each employee with depression will, on average, take three to four days off work per month which is equivalent to over six million days lost each year in Australia

In addition to absenteeism, depression accounts for more than 12 million days of reduced productivity each year.

Sixty-two per cent (62%) of people with depression don't get help for it

Research shows that implementation of early diagnosis and intervention programs can result in a five-fold return on investment as a result of increased employee productivity

Workplace stress is a significant risk factor for developing depression
Source - Beyond Blue
http://www.beyondblue.org.au/index.aspx?link_id=4.1028