Mathijs Hoogstad currently serves as an international mental health consultant with PAHO.
Personnel in the field of journalism and communications recently had the opportunity to explore how they could find a work life balance and better manage stress, given the nature of the work required of them, even in the midst of the present COVID-19 pandemic.
This opportunity was provided via a webinar entitled, “Doing What Matters in Times of Stress for Journalists and Health Communicators”, which was held this week. The webinar served as the fourth and final session of a training series organised by the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), in collaboration with the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU).
The one-hour session focused in particular on the impact of the work of journalists and communicators on their own wellness, particularly during these stressful times, as Barbados and other countries in the region come to grips with the myriad challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mathijs Hoogstad, an international mental health consultant with PAHO who is currently based in the Netherlands, gave participants the opportunity to deepen their knowledge about the concepts of personal and work-related stress. Via his interactive session, he also provided practical tips and recommendations for coping with stress, with an emphasis on the importance of self-care and wellness.
The psychologist who is presently working in the Netherlands on a number of international projects dealing with stress management, delivered a poll to participants, which showed that tight deadlines, a high or heavy workload and unsupportive or unhealthy work cultures were the primary causes of stress for many journalists and communicators, along with other issues such as not having enough time to recover after periods of high stress, having to deal with emotional strain or sensitive issues on the job and at times having little to no recognition for the work they do.
Hoogstad however informed them, “If you want to be able to continue to serve your community, your neighbours, your people, then we as professionals need to take care of ourselves as well, otherwise we can get into burn out issues and this will affect our health”.
After hearing from participants how they generally attempt to deal with stress, for instance, spending time with their families and loved ones, leaning on their spirituality/church to lessen stress, opting to exercise, enjoy nature, meet with friends, get more sleep or eat a healthier diet, Hoogstad then gave them practical, holistic tips and guidelines, some based on the World Health Organisation’s standards, on how they could better manage or handle stress in their chosen field of work. He pointed out that they should remain socially connected, maintain a healthy lifestyle, create time and space for themselves, act within their value system which can keep them grounded and also know when they should request help from friends, colleagues or even those in their professional circle.