By Michael Weston
12th September is R U OK Day
Well it’s that time of the year again when we raise Mental Health Awareness across Australia by having R U OK Day events at work.
It’s such a great event to remind us all that there will be days where we are not feeling so great or our mates at work may be struggling but you know what, it’s ok to not be ok. We are all human after all.
Unfortunately, the statistics indicate that we don’t always reach out for help for ourselves, so it’s really important to have others looking out for us too.
Asking a person however, “Are you ok?” and leaving the question in this limited format will in many cases get a YES or NO answer. Why, because it is a closed question and will get a closed answer. This is why we need to expand on this closed question and so you could say;
“Are you ok? The reason I ask is that you don’t seem to be your happy and humorous self the past few days and I’m worried about you, please tell me what’s going on?”.
“You may not be ready to talk with me today but please know that I’m here for you to listen and provide support, however I can”.
This approach not only opens the question up for a reply but is showing the person that you actually care about them, as opposed to a passing question that is like a default button on our keyboard.
Above all, this event is also raising our awareness to ask this question every day of the year, not just on the 12th September, once a year. Just like safety, we also need to be looking after our own Mental Health and Wellbeing, as well for others around us.
Start a conversation TODAY!
