#144 What if they're faking it?

Welcome to the 144th episode of the award-winning Diverse Minds podcast. As we approach the end of Mental Health Awareness Month, I wanted to pick up on a topic I often get asked about - one that can link to people not being able to speak about their Mental Health at work - and that is, suspicion and thinking people are faking it.

Listen to the episode

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On today’s show

• Why I chose to cover this topic today. [01:27]
• Some issues that could cause mental ill-health at work. [03:47]
• What we can do to support people struggling with mental ill-health at work [06:03]
• How to deal with people that actually open up to you about their mental ill-health. [08:03]
• What to do if people are actually faking mental illness. [10:56]

 Quotes

• In my experience, it's extremely rare that someone fakes mental ill-health.
• I think faking mental health to escape work or gain or redundancy package, is very bizarre to me.
• What I found is that staff don't ask for help when experiencing mental ill-health.
• It's better to try and have a conversation, even if it doesn't go perfectly than to jump to conclusions.
• We know that mental and physical health, are not completely distinct. They overlap, and they overlap significantly.

Resources

• Leave me an anonymous message on my Speakpipe
• Mental Health First Aid England
• Samaritans
• SANELine
• Mind
• Anxiety UK
• Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) 
• Mind’s WAP
• Remploy Support
• Listen to Episode 97: The art of listening to support someone
• Check out Episode 143: Why won’t they accept help?
• Universal Design and why it’s so important

Work with me

Have a look at my online work-life balance course on Thinkific. You can access it here: http://bit.ly/DMMHPONC