LIMA, Ohio (WLIO) — Local business leaders gathered to learn how to make mental health awareness an integral part of their office culture.
Dunlap pointed out that many people tend to deprioritize mental health, but those issues can surface in other, less obvious ways.
Speaker Chad Dunlap provided attendees with tools to recognize when someone may be struggling mentally and offered strategies to help them. He emphasized that when individuals are dealing with issues—whether at home or in the workplace—it can lead to increased absenteeism, workplace conflicts, and a decline in productivity.
Dunlap pointed out that many people tend to deprioritize mental health, but those issues can surface in other, less obvious ways.
“If we're focusing on all the negativity or all the all the garbage that that we bring to you, and if we bring that garbage into our workspace, kind of work that we turn out, we turn out garbage work. So we learn how to focus on what really matters.n If we learn to focus on what we're doing, it keeps us doing the things that we're supposed to be doing while we're there,” said Chad Dunlap, Upshift with Chad Dunlap.
Cenovus sponsored the event, recognizing that mental health is just as critical as occupational safety.
“We have a lot of demands and stresses in this industry, as you can imagine. So that combined with normal life leads to mental health issues. So, we have Mental Health Matters, which is a program here internally with Cenovus. And it's important for us to be advocates for how to recognize it, how to better deal with it,” said Sebastien Robert, director of operations at the Cenovus Lima Refinery.
Dunlap said he hopes participants came away with the understanding that every day offers the best opportunity to live life to the fullest.
