I take into consideration psychological well being rather a lot. It’s humorous – you don’t give it some thought in any respect till it begins failing you. Then, it’s just about all you may take into consideration. I think about myself fortunate, although, as a result of I don’t must fake that I’m feeling fabulous once I’m not, and I can converse brazenly about some struggles that I face. I’m grateful that psychological well being is a dialog the world is having; it’s comforting to know that I’m not alone, and that there’s hope.

Between the World Psychological Well being Day and Movember, I had a chat with Mario Sebastian, VP at Cisco CX EMEA South. I actually appreciated his authenticity sharing his journey.

tenth of October is the World Psychological Well being Day and the shift to prioritizing psychological well being that we’ve been seeing for the previous couple of years was actually echoed on this yr’s theme, Psychological well being is a common human proper. What does this theme imply to you?

Mario: I imagine psychological well being is simply as vital, or in some circumstances much more vital than bodily well being. Robust psychological well being and resilience may help you endure someof the bodily challenges.

You wouldn’t inform somebody with a damaged leg to only recover from themselves or drink extra water, however that is what we frequently hear in relation to psychological well being.

Mario: Completely, and because of this, in relation to our psychological well being, generally we don’t really feel open to share our challenges. We fear others would possibly see it as a weak point. This proves to be true with many males who expertise psychological well being challenges however dismiss their emotions and don’t search assist. They really feel pressured by the society and their setting to remain sturdy and conceal their issues. This may make the therapeutic course of tough, as it’s key to recognise and acknowledge that we’re not properly, and we must always be capable to discuss our challenges each with our family and friends, in addition to – if we wish to, at work. I believe it begins with the leaders, they should create an setting the place folks can converse freely and really feel secure speaking about their troubles. On the similar time, I believe leaders ought to enable themselves to be susceptible and open about their very own challenges with their groups. Don’t shrink back from having these conversations, as tough as they might be.

Psychological well being is one thing that we take very critically at Cisco, and we just lately celebrated the corporate large Psychological Well being Consciousness Week with the theme of Psychological Well being Unites Us – Shared Feelings, Distinctive Journeys. Because the sponsor of the Mindfulness and Resilience neighborhood at Cisco… What journey has led you there? Why is that this matter so vital to you personally?

Mario: At present, I follow quite a few wholesome habits like sports activities, yoga, consuming nutritious meals, in addition to meditation. Every day I allocate a while for my very own aware moments, because it helps me discover the steadiness and maintain each my physique and soul wholesome. Prior to now I didn’t pay a lot consideration to it. Generally you actually need to hit a wall to recognise you need assistance, and I discovered myself at that time a number of years in the past. I used to be fortunate to get help from my spouse and a superb good friend of mine, who launched me to the world of meditation and yoga. I began to take heed to my physique and my thoughts, and I really feel a lot more healthy now. It’s not all the time excellent; it’s ups and downs, and it’s vital to be aware and conscious of these moments when you’re not feeling nice, and also you would possibly must ask for assist from a trusted particular person or knowledgeable. On the similar time, hitting that wall helped me turn out to be a extra acutely aware chief. I wish to assist folks embrace the journey to a wholesome physique and thoughts.

Leaders ought to enable themselves to be susceptible and open about their very own challenges with their groups. Don’t shrink back from having these conversations, as tough as they might be.

As somebody who has been on a psychological well being journey for fairly some time, I fully agree with what you mentioned about recognising that you just would possibly want change or assist. All of it begins with consciousness, trigger it’s solely when you’re conscious of the issue that you may really do one thing about it.

Mario: And that’s exactly why it’s so vital to foster an setting, at residence, with your mates, and at work, the place everybody can present up as they’re. We’re not robots, we’ve got emotions and feelings, and we shouldn’t have to cover them. It’s like what we mentioned earlier: when your physique is unwell, you go to a physician. Why would you deal with your thoughts any totally different and ignore or disguise the issue? We should proceed to boost consciousness and normalising psychological well being issues, in order that someday we gained’t must hit the all-time low to lastly get assist we’d like.

We’re human, and all through our lives we expertise ups and downs. Generally, it’s as a result of issues don’t work in our favour, however generally it could appear we’ve got all of it – a superb profession, joyful household, well being, hobbies… And but we don’t really feel good. To make it worse, generally we don’t enable ourselves to deal with it, as if our emotions are usually not legitimate.

Whatever the elements that undermine our psychological well being, it’s vital that we acknowledge and converse up about our points. In case you are struggling along with your psychological well being, please don’t let worry of judgement, disgrace or the rest cease you from getting the assist you to want. Discuss to somebody you belief or knowledgeable and bear in mind, that you just should be joyful.

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