How to support employees with Seasonal Affective Disorder? Here are some strategies employers can use to help employees with SAD:
Seasonal Depression & its Symptoms in the Workplace with Everyone
that provides mental health resources, counselling, and support services. It’s important to communicate the availability of these services in your workplace so employees know how to access them when needed. Wellness Workshops & Programs Implement wellness programs that focus on mental health. Alternatively, you can update existing programs to include mental health-related components. This could include virtual fitness classes, mindfulness sessions, workshops on stress management, or guest speakers and webinars that provide education on mental health topics.
Talk about it in your team meetings and one-on-ones. Send out emails or internal communication that include helpful information and resources on how to identify and cope with seasonal depression. Provide literature on SAD, how it can impact a person’s mental health, and offer information on where employees can find support services or helplines. Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) If your business offers a benefits plan with an Employee Assistance Program
• Training for Management at all levels
Provide training for management at all levels on recognizing the signs of seasonal affective disorder and how to support employees with depression. Equip your business and its staff with resources and guidance on how to approach employees on topics related to mental health and discuss those issues in a non-judgemental manner.
• Create Open Awareness about
Tips to Ease Your Winter SAD Symp- toms: • Spend more time outdoors during the day.
• Move furniture so that you sit near a window or, if you exercise indoors, set up your exercise equipment by a window.
• Make a habit of taking a daily noon- hour walk, particularly if you commute to school or work in the dark hours of the day. • When all else fails, try a winter vacation in sunny climates—if the pocketbook and work schedule allow. Keep in mind that the symptoms will recur after you return home.
• Install skylights and add lamps.
• Try to arrange the spaces you spend time in to maximize sunlight exposure.
• Build physical activity into your lifestyle preferably before SAD symptoms take hold. Physical activity relieves stress, builds energy, and increases both your physical and mental well-being and resilience.
• Keep curtains open during the day.
• Trim tree branches or hedges that may be blocking some of the light from getting into your home.
• Try to resist the carbohydrate and sleep cravings that come with SAD
122 SPOTLIGHT MAGAZINE ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • VOL 24 ISSUE 5
SPOTLIGHT MAGAZINE ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • VOL 24 ISSUE 5 123
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs