What is a Wellness Day? Our GM shares his story of mental health

In previous Voyage posts we’ve talked about the importance of our team's wellness, and the methods we put in place to encourage those we work with to take care of themselves both physically and mentally. Our monthly Wellness Days are a part of this, where our team is given one day a month to focus on themselves.

It's always great to hear what everyone got up to on their Wellness Day when we reconvene back in the office. But the key point of this employee benefit is that this time is theirs to use exactly as they like, with the only guideline from us that they consider their own mental wellbeing on this day.

How Wellness Days led me to being part of the Voyage team

This benefit was in place before I started at Voyage and it continues to this day, some five years and ample changes later. It was a big part of why I joined the team - not because it was a free day off each month, but because it demonstrated a commitment to wellbeing and mental health.

My own mental health challenges (and they are a challenge) go back to my childhood. You see, I have something called Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD), which was formally diagnosed when I was 18 years old. My own “challenge” resulted in a childhood filled with a fair bit of fear and worry, that was most definitely in the realms of irrational.

I also say ‘formally diagnosed’, because the evidence was there long before I was 18, but it was easier to brush over the signs when they didn’t fit a label or definition. And let’s be honest - how many kids in the 80’s and 90’s were getting diagnosed with anxiety? Once I had the diagnosis and began treatment, life opened up for me. It felt like the beginning of a whole new world, where I was able to understand myself so much better and had the ability to far more rationally step through the situations life threw at me. Being able to do this ultimately led me to study and begin a 20+ year career in digital, eventually making my way to Voyage.

So, what is a Wellness Day?

Back to the topic at hand, what is a Wellness Day? Well, it's different for everyone. Voyage has a diverse bunch of people that we are lucky to call teammates, and what they do with this day every month is just as diverse. While my Wellness Days often consist of heading to the gym, picking my kids up from school, going to watch football, sneaking in some video games and hitting the Lego bricks, others head to the hills, or go and see family.

A more important question to ask is, why do we have Wellness Days? The Ministry of Health recently published the Health and Independence Report for 2023, and there are some worrying (excuse the pun) trends they are seeing. In the two weeks before participating in the survey, 26.6% of adults experienced mild or greater symptoms of anxiety and 29.0% of adults experienced mild or greater symptoms of depression. This is up from 18.5% of adults experienced anxiety and 19.9% experienced depression in 2017.

This leads me to wonder - is this a case of more stressed and anxious people in our community? Or is it that there is increased awareness of mental health issues and people are more comfortable talking about them? I suspect it may be a combination of both, but regardless, we need to talk about the often unseen challenges we face so much more.

Removing the stigmas of mental health

So yes, I’m passionate about mental health, but why am I putting this out there now? I’ve come to see one of the best things about having lived with mental health challenges for so long is that I’m comfortable talking about them. I’ve also seen the more open I am with my own journey, the less stigma someone else may feel about what they are working with. Even if I encourage one person to do something to improve their mental wellbeing then it’s worth it to share.

For myself, I’ve always seen my own challenges as no different to a physical injury you need to recover from. There will be good days and bad, there will be progress and setbacks. All you can do is take it one day at a time, leaning on those around you for support. As someone who has lived outside of the norm for some years now I can promise you finding the balance will happen, you just have to work for it.

As for my professional life, Voyage puts mental health front and centre and we’ve seen the real benefits of this approach. Sure, there is a cost to business with our Wellness Days, but the outcomes of more engaged, productive and healthier staff far outweigh any expense. I would encourage anyone who reads this to genuinely consider and review how their company is approaching and supporting mental health, and how they can make a significant difference in the lives of their staff and their families and friends.