When talking about suicide within the construction industry, it is important to address anxiety and depression, as they can be risk factors for suicide. It is a natural part of the human experience to feel depressed or anxious at times, especially when dealing with life’s challenges. You might experience sadness and boredom after the loss of a relationship or anxiety when speaking in front of a crowd. These are normal reactions that our bodies have in response to stressful situations.
However, depression and anxiety can become chronic and affect both our mental and physical health. They become chronic when they begin to impact our daily functioning. In response, we might develop unhealthy coping mechanisms to alleviate our depression and anxiety.
Just as we have safety protocols when someone gets injured on a job site, we must also have healthy and effective strategies for dealing with chronic depression and anxiety. We partnered with Cyti Psychological to develop a toolbox talk on anxiety and depression to help define these conditions and offer coping strategies that are long-lasting and lead to a healthier lifestyle.
In full transparency, you may find these strategies to be uncomfortable but with practice and patience, you might find yourself using a meditation app or journaling instead of reaching for that quick-fix beer after a long day.
To support the construction industry’s mental wellness effort, we are developing new training programs that provide workers with additional tools and strategies to address mental health. Our goal is to make these sessions interactive and spark discussion.
While these new programs are in development, we will continue offering our monthly Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) training on October 23rd at 8 AM. This free, virtual training explores ways to prevent suicide. It is evidence-based and covers the warning signs of suicide, common myths, and how to refer someone showing these signs to appropriate help. Register here to join us this month!
If you are interested in our toolbox talks or other presentations reach out to us at csppteam@linesforlife.org
