Whether you’re a salon owner or are self-employed as a hair and beauty professional, work isn’t always easy on the nerves. The pressure of pleasing clients whilst stretching out your time, energy and resources can steer us off our sense of calm and cause significant emotional strain. And life outside work isn’t without its share of troubles as well, whether it’s our relationships, finances or unexpected surprises.
But life happens, so we have to power through it. Or so we’re told. The stigma of discussing our mental health, forces us to keep our problems under wraps until it becomes too much to handle. This is particularly true in the hair and beauty industry where there are added pressures to aspire towards unrealistic expectations, such as those portrayed in media. But what is the extent of the problem, and what can we do to manage, and even improve, our mental health? In this blog post, we discuss the issues in society at hand, what we can do to educate ourselves and provide a download to our keeping calm infographic (to save image to computer, right click image and select save image as… ).
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Mental health as a business owner or freelancer
1 out of 4 people have had a problem with mental health in the past year. This might come as a surprise since a majority of people with mental health issues in your life might not show obvious symptoms. This statistic may be even higher for business owners and freelancers, particularly when it comes to anxiety and stress since long hours and financial worries related to work aren’t uncommon in this line of work. Of those 1 in 4 people, only around 2 out of 3 who need help, will actually visit the GP to discuss their problems.
Knowing this, it’s even more important to educate ourselves and encourage an open door policy on talking about any mental health issues, whether it’s in our personal or professional, lives.
Signs & symptoms of mental health issues
Everyone reacts differently to mental health issues, and so the following is not an extensive, but a very general list, regarding signs and symptoms that may be associated with having mental health troubles. Of course, the more prolonged the symptoms, the more crucial it is to discuss these issues with a GP or a counselling professional.
- Feeling prolonged periods of sadness and gloominess
- Confusion and being unable to concentrate
- Withdrawal from social contact
- Sudden panic and anger
- Constant irritation
- Abusing substances and/or escapism
- Hallucinations, or imagined problems
Since emotions and the body are linked, these can be associated with nervous sensations like migraine/headaches, stomach aches and other random aches and pains.
The good news
Help is always at hand as long as we and our colleagues aim to educate ourselves on mental health and seek professional help when required. According to statistics from the NHS Confederation, stigmas associated with discussing mental health are gradually decreasing. That said, there is still a pervading apprehension in discussing mental health issues in today’s society, and this is even more of a problem in ethnic minority communities. Efforts have been made to shift perspectives on mental health and its education and media. Some of this is reflected in the increase of mental health programming such as the BBCs line up for mental health programs this spring, or mental health conscious movies, like Inside Out by Disney. Also, learn about the Salon owner who runs mental health workshops and encourages clients to talk about things on their minds.
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