Mental health days for workers and mental health breaks for school children going into 2024 are what President of the Barbados Society of Psychology Ronald Pope has recommended, citing more stressed-out Barbadians.Pope told Barbados TODAY that he has observed a wave of mental health challenges reported to healthcare institutions across the island and among people from all walks of life.The psychologist expressed hope that there will be a renewed focus on self-care for Barbadians in the new year.“As far as the workplaces are concerned and schools are concerned, mental health days are very important. I think that sometimes schools [can] have breaks where students can have a relaxed day…. As far as workplaces are concerned, I think it is more than necessary, extremely important, that they have mental health days. I find that persons are dealing with a lot at home, in the community, things that are going on in the world, and then come to work and have stress.“When you go into some workplaces you can just look at the staff – you don’t have to have a counselling session with the staff – and see that they are stressed. I think that more workplaces need [mental health days] and not just think that it’s just a day off or lazy day. It is actually very necessary. As we go forward [in] 2024 and beyond, I would love to see more workplaces doing it,” Pope said.It was his opinion that 2023 has been one of the most significant years in Barbados for mental health awareness in recent memory.
