Not just surviving but thriving

Mental health has been in the news recently with the publication of a report from the Department for Work and Pensions and Department of Health. Thriving at Work: a review of mental health and employers  sets out what employers can do to better support all employees – including those with mental health problems – to remain in and thrive through work. The 84 page document makes recommendations for employers, for the public sector and for government.  

What is interesting is the emphasis on thriving. The authors, (Lord Dennis Stevenson and Paul Farmer) state: "we start from the position that the correct way to view mental health is that we all have it and we fluctuate between thriving, struggling and being ill and possibly off work" (p.5). There are similarities, in this analysis, with Keyes' (2002) view of wellbeing as a continuum, with flourishing at one extreme and languishing at the other. We are flourishing – or thriving – when we are enjoying positive emotion and good psychological and social functioning, whereas languishing is associated with emptiness, stagnation and despair.

Earlier this year, to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week, the Mental Health Foundation published its own report Surviving or Thriving? The state of the UK's mental health. The Mental Health Foundation is a UK charity dedicated to addressing the sources of mental health problems so people and communities can thrive. Like the Stevenson/Farmer review, Surviving or Thriving? makes some helpful recommendations, including 'ten steps we can all take to thrive' and 'five steps for a mentally thriving UK'.  Both reports are well worth a detailed read for, as Surviving or Thriving? warns:

"current levels of good mental health are disturbingly low. The barometer of success of any nation is the health and wellbeing of its people. We have a long way to go before we can say that we are a thriving nation. Although we have made great strides in the health of our bodies and our life expectancy, we now need to achieve the same for the good health of our minds" (p.6).

References

Keyes, C.L.M. (2002). The mental health continuum: from languishing to flourishing in life. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 43, 207-222.

Stevenson, D & Farmer, P. (2017).  Thriving at work. The Stevenson / Farmer review of mental health and employers. London: Department for Work and Pensions and Department of Health.

Mental Health Foundation (2017). Surviving or Thriving? The state of the UK's mental health. London: Mental Health Foundation.