Transcript
Transcript: Mental Health and the Easing of COVID-19 Restrictions in the Workplace: Marie-Anik Gagné
[Text on screen: "Mental health and the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in the workplace: Esther Fleurimond"]
[Text on screen: "The COVID-19 pandemic can cause major stress in many areas of our lives."]
[Text on screen: « Mental Health and the Easing of COVID-19 Restrictions in the Workplace : Marie-Anik Gagné»]
[Text on screen: « The COVID-19 pandemic can be a major stressor for us in many areas of our lives.»]
[Text on screen: «The easing of restrictions in the workplace can bring new anxieties and it is important to consider it's impact on mental health. Here are some key elements to consider»]
[Marie-Anik Gagné, PhD, Director, Mental Health Division, Strategic Policy Branch, Health Canada speaks to the camera.]
Hello, my name is Marie-Anik Gagné and I'm the director of mental health division at Health Canada, and I'm coming to you from my home during this pandemic. I know many of you are planning the return to work for your employees and for yourself. Many of us have been impacted by this pandemic to various extents. Many of us have had some anxieties, potentially some depression and other feelings that were quite unusual and uncomfortable for us and it's OK. It is a global pandemic. This is something that happens once every hundred years or so and it's OK. But when do you know that you need to recommend somebody to get some sort of support? So I'm here to give you a couple of tips regarding that. So for one thing is just be curious, have an open heart, open mind, ask questions, find out what's happening in people's lives, and then look for the following. Are people having difficulty completing tasks that usually they didn't have any problems with, or are they feeling fear and anxiety that you would think is a little bit unreasonable given their personal circumstances, as far as you know, as well as any conflicts that they're maybe having with colleagues or at work or any outbursts that they're having? Are they avoiding certain duties or are you seeing some significant deterioration in their performance. Perhaps, their referring to their substance use quite a bit. If that's the case, refer them to some help. There's EAP and there's also Wellness Together Canada, which is a portal for all Canadians, adults as well as children, lots of tips and you can access right away counsellors and mental health specialists. So we invite you to look for these signs and be kind to yourselves. Thank you.
[Animation of a book flipping open followed by "canada.ca/school."]
["Canada" and an image of the Canadian flag appear on screen.]
