Upshot:
- Exaggerated Levels of VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) have forced us to reevaluate our Mental Health.
- Mental Health and Physical Health are naturally symmetric.
- Culture and Process are naturally symmetric too.
- Employers and Employees have a natural interdependence to exploit using the same simple thinking.
- Organism Thinking is the smartest, simplest, and most productive paradigm to operate from in the Digital-Knowledge Age.
“The Body without the Spirit is a Corpse” James 2:26
Exaggerated levels of VUCA in the environment have forced us to reevaluate how we work. Especially in the past several years, many of us have felt a lot of stress and anxiety. Maybe you have felt isolated, or maybe you’ve had to learn new skills, or maybe you’ve lost loved ones to Covid-19. It’s been a lot to deal with.
But it’s not all bad news. We’re realizing that our physical health and mental health are intimately related. We are learning to tap mind-body equivalence to transform our well-being. And as we learn more about our mental health, we’ll also be able to take better care of our bodies and make smarter choices about how we work. But there’s more we can do with this new knowledge. Much more.
The truth is that Mental health and physical health are supersymmetric. It’s that simple. What is Supersymmetry? According to Wikipedia, “in a supersymmetric theory, the equations for force and the equations for matter are identical.” We can’t talk about health without talking about mental health. We can’t talk about health without talking about physical health. Both statements are true. How can this Paradox Be? The correct answer is that Mental Health and Physical Health are one. It’s high time we start treating mental health like the elemental superpartner that it is– instead of the afterthought it has historically been.
There’s no better time for this appreciation than during Mental Health Awareness Month. Mental health awareness doesn’t just help you personally. Knowing more about mental health will also help your family members, friends, and coworkers. Five reasons why mental health awareness is so important today are outlined below:
1. Mental Health Awareness means understanding yourself and your symptoms better. A lot of people who have mental health symptoms from Super VUCA recognize it as lingering anxiety or even PTSD-like experience, a common result of VUCA from perilous military encounters. Others don’t recognize their struggles are a result of untreated mental health issues. While there are different symptoms, some signs to look out for include: Changes in sleeping patterns, sudden loss or increase of appetite, Impulsive decision-making, anger management issues, substance abuse, and suicidal thoughts. If you haven’t been feeling like yourself lately, you might have a mental health issue that requires treatment.
2. Mental Health Awareness means that the more people know about the need for mental health treatment, the more mental health resources will become available. In the Digital-Knowledge Age, more and more and better and better resources are at hand. Without mental health resources, people would not be able to recover.
3. Mental Health Awareness means breaking the stigma of mental health as an outlier. Having mental health disorders doesn’t mean that you are “nuts.” In truth, thanks to Super VUCA, the vast majority of people across the country report unprecedented levels of stress and anxiety. With more self-awareness and an intentional diet of self-care, anyone can improve well-being. Bringing Mental Health into the light gets you closer to mental health recovery.
4. Mental Health Awareness means acknowledging that Super VUCA is here to stay and learning to thrive in it. At work, there are obvious things that contribute to our mental stress—like feeling overworked or having to do a job you don’t love, or being asked to be constantly “on” and accessible when you’re not at work – or worse – working in a toxic environment, for a bad boss, or on a dysfunctional team. It means not letting ourselves be fooled by the notion that this is a sustainable way to live. Transforming the Employer System that wittingly or unwittingly produces all of this unnecessary waste is a matter of Employee-Employer survival in the Digital-Knowledge Age.
5. Finally, Mental Health Awareness means recognizing that our mental health can impact every other aspect of our lives, from our physical health to our relationships with loved ones. When you think about it like this, it’s not difficult to see why ignoring your mental health can have such a profound ripple effect on so many parts of your life.
If we want to make sure we’re living the best version of ourselves, we need to make sure we are taking care of our minds as diligently as we take care of our bodies and making sure they get the attention they need and deserve. This definitely means adopting a new or more intentional system of self-care. When it comes to Well-Being, you cannot be there for anyone else if you refuse to show up for yourself. To achieve this we recommend a compound therapy system of scheduled me-time interventions. Call it “find your self-care groove” Here are a few of our favorites from the Sanus Catalog.
🌀Transformation Therapy* 📖Knowledge Therapy* 🌸Passion Therapy🏀 Sports Therapy 👨👩👧Family Therapy 💏Relationship Therapy 🧘🏽♀️Mindfulness Therapy 💃🏼Moving Therapy 🌲Nature Therapy🎶Music Therapy 📱AI Therapy
If your mental health challenges are even greater you can consider attending a Super Life Forum or engaging a certified Sanus life coach, or a registered therapist, practicing new forms of mindfulness, or learning how to cope with Super VUCA in more constructive ways—there are multiple more intensive strategies.
Because of Supersymmetry Employers and Employees have a natural interdependence to exploit. This is the smartest, simplest, most natural paradigm to operate from – one for all and all for one. The sweet spot for the sanest, healthiest relationship is to reframe Mental Health as the polar complement of Physical Health. To revolutionize well-being is to synchronize mind-body.
Reframing Mental Health for the Employer in a way that is truly transformative is Organism Thinking. Organism Thinking is a science of living systems thinking and complex adaptive systems thinking. Together they explain why process and culture, correctly understood, are superpartners. From Organism View it is easy to see the mind-body equivalence.
At the system level, there are two systems at work – the system that flows and the one that emerges. Same for you. And your team. And your cat. One is biological and one is complex-adaptive. One is visible and one is invisible.
Summary
Mental health challenges are now the norm among employees across all organizational levels. It has become a full-blown imperative for a growing number of organizations.
The way you think about your mental health will directly affect your physical health. So, it’s crucial that employers and employees work together to transform both employer and employee well-being and reduce the stigma around mental health in the workplace. When you look at the world in this new way, you will gain a life-changing new perspective: one that will lead you down the path of personal transformation and self-understanding, and one that will make it possible to interact with your friends, family members, and colleagues in ways that liberate superperformance and best-self in every direction.
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Sanus is a Corpus Optima Practice that integrates Organism Thinking, Servant Leadership, Super Change, and Agility to transform Well-Being. Sanus focuses uniquely on the simultaneous transformation of both employer (system level) and employee (agent level) health.
Take the first step. Explore how Sanus revolutionizes Employer-Employee Well-Being.
