2023-10-12 12:44:35
Do you know Benjamina?
Benjamin He was approximately 10 years old when he died, in Atapuerca (Burgos), 530,000 years ago. He had craniosynostosis, a rare disease that affects fewer than six people per 200,000 in today’s population. And today we know that to survive she had to be cared for, and also have special care: human beings have been taking care of each other for 530,000 years.
Caring for people is nourished by that altruistic and generous part that human beings display in the relationships we have; especially in the closest ones. In fact, these relationships at a professional level play a fundamental role in promoting mental health at work.
Mental health care at work
In the business world, we often live very far from generosity, from an appreciative look towards others and towards ourselves.
We have a very active threat system, which does not direct our actions towards our own and common care. Our threat system is not activated only when there is a real threat (for example, when someone is fired from the company), but it is activated by the thought that something like this might happen.
Neuroscience tells us that the 70% of the time the mind is wandering involuntarilyThat is, we do not have control of our thoughts, and these can put us in loops, which push us to increase stress levels and worsen our mental health at work. And since we have an attentional preference bias towards the negative, which is activated by survival mechanisms without us realizing it, these uncontrolled thoughts also tend to tend to the negative.
We have another emotional regulation system, the achievement system, with which we focus on achieving goals. In the achievement system we generate dopamine (pleasure neurotransmitter) that is addictive; That’s why we want more and more, we get hooked on getting it, on getting a “like,” on the sensation it produces in our body. The trap occurs when achieving becomes an obsession; then we stop secreting dopamine, because it becomes a threat, and the cortisol (stress hormone) comes into play in our body.
The levers of well-being
The calm system, which is what produces oxytocin, helps us to regulate ourselves, to have a feeling of satisfaction, to think with perspective, to activate self-care. When we increase the calm system in our body, the threat system decreases; Both cannot occur at the same time. And therefore, we activate the possibility of taking care of ourselves and others.
Every time we find ourselves facing a conflict that affects our mental health at work or on a personal level, or a thought loop that we cannot get out of, we can activate the calm system. We achieve this, among other mechanisms, if:
We stopped. We stop the bias of our thinking and change the focus of our attention. The daily dynamics in Western society make us go on autopilot, that we do things out of habit… If we stay thinking hooked on thoughts, for example, thinking regarding all the tasks that remain to be done, we do not live in the present moment, we do not sleep well maybe and we can enter rumination loops, thinking regarding the same thing, which causes us to have a feeling of dissatisfaction, anxiety and even loss of meaning. Give ourselves permission to stop, breathe consciously and feel and design what direction I want to take in the day and with what meaning. Direct our thoughts towards issues that strengthen us and do us good. We breathe three deep breaths, changing body posture. We observe how we feel, what is happening in the body. We accept that we feel how we feel and we “breathe” it. We converse with ourselves with kindness; We can talk to each other like we would talk to our best friend. We pay attention and intention and we act. We can set intention to one thing in our day. What do we want to happen today? How do we want to be? We ask for what we need, we don’t have to do it alone. We seek to be with people with whom we have a feeling of trust and security. Physical contact, for example hugs, is an extraordinary way to enter the calm system, increasing oxytocin in the body. We make gratitude a way of being in the company to guarantee our mental health at work.
The reason for daily work
If we can stop, we can find the purpose that leads us to the meaning of working where we work, to why. The Japanese call it ikigai. It is a term that refers to the reason for being, the reason that makes us have a horizon that gives meaning to each day. Meaning in the workplace is not given, we have to build it.
Four fundamental ingredients are given to build the ikigai:
The sense of belonging to the company, to the project and knowing that you are cared for. Treat yourself and others kindly. Be thankful. Live with a certain calm.
The role of the company in mental health
Companies are not responsible for the well-being of their teams and their mental health, but they are responsible for articulating mechanisms so that each person can increase their own and common levels of self-care of the teams to which they belong.
Today, retaining talent in organizations involves enabling spaces for care and well-being, with the aim of guaranteeing mental health at work and not looking the other way. If we want to move forward as a society we must understand that we are interdependent and live in a culture of humanity that we share and build together. Finding meaning in daily life is vital.
As the Dalai Lama said:
“Almost all good things are born from an attitude of appreciation for others.”
Something that was already clear to them in Atapuerca 530,000 years ago, as demonstrated by Benjamina’s care.
This article is part of a collaboration with Becas Santander, a global initiative that offers free scholarships, programs and content for adults of any age. More information in https://www.becas-santander.com.
Elena QuevedoLecturer & Researcher. Faculty of Psychology and Education. Educational Innovation Unit (Responsible Teacher Training), University of Deusto and Fernando Diez RuizAssociate professor, University of Deusto
This article was originally published in The Conversation. read the original.
1697116991
#Mental #health #work #achieve #wellbeing #work #environment
