Getting the laundry done, feeding the cat, doing the dishes, helping the kids with homework, the needs of aging parents, workplace deadlines, multi-tasking with your job and families. There’s a never-ending list of responsibilities that often get placed on the back burner – if it’s not life or death.
Honestly, most of us can more than justify a "mental health day" from work – on occasion. And a new study suggests that a lot of you out there agree. 82% of employees admit to taking "mental health days" to recover or recharge. Interestingly, work stress was not the most likely cause of skipping out.
The study comes from employee assistant consultant company, ComPsych. In it’s Tell It Now poll, one-third of employees surveyed said family and relationship issues were the top reasons for taking a mental health day from work.
We are human beings with needs in a world that has increasingly become a sensory nightmare.Whether at home with our families, living alone, or acting as caregivers we’re still navigating the information that comes to us through the media and advancing technology. So our family issues are no longer left at the workplace door and might be just as stress inducing as a business deadline.
I gave some real thought to this. My mom, for example, can reach me whether I’m on a TV set, doing a radio story or meditating at home. And while I enjoy her greatly – I’ve been known to check out for a bit from everything and everyone. Anyone who knows me has a ridiculous amount of options to track me down.
- 7 e-mail accounts
- My Black Berry e-mail
- My Black Berry phone
- My home phone
- Calling the studio and having them e-mail me or leave a message
- Calling or e-mailing a co-worker to get to me
- Calling or e-mailing my Executive Assistant Diotima
- Get a hold of my sister, Mary
- Etc.
Ok- so you get the picture. The lines between our personal and work lives have blurred. So it doesn’t surprise me one bit that we can all use a mental health day – just for being human.
