Sailors' Society Wellness at Sea - top tips to keep mentally fit

Seafarer wellbeing has been a focal topic for Standard Club in recent years, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic and we are proud to be working in partnership with Sailors’ Society’s Wellness at Sea programme, sharing helpful advice and resources over several weeks.

This week, as we delve deeper into the topic of depression and anxiety, let us consider these statistics released by Yale University in 2019, pre-Covid:

• 25% of seafarers completing a patient health questionnaire had scores suggesting signs of depression (significantly higher than other working and general populations).
• 17% of seafarers completing a generalised anxiety disorder questionnaire were defined as seafarers with anxiety.
• 20% of seafarers surveyed had suicidal thoughts, either several days (12.5%), more than half the days (5%) or nearly every day (2%) over the two weeks prior to taking the survey.
• Depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts were associated with increased likelihood of injury and illness while working on board the vessel.
• Seafarer depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts were associated with increased likelihood of planning to leave work as a seafarer in the next six months.
   

The statistics are startling, and you could have been one of those who responded to the health questionnaire, but recognising the signs is the first step in recovery.

Attached are some tips that we hope will help with mental wellness.

Stay tuned to this space as more resources from both Standard Club and Sailors’ Society will be shared regularly. 

Category: Loss Prevention