Tag: mental health

In a recent SAFETY4SEA Talk, Dr. Pennie Blackburn, Consultant Clinical Psychologist at ISWAN, Mr. Johan Smith, Wellness Programme Manager at Sailors’ Society and Capt. Hari Subramaniam, Regional Head-Business Relations at Shipowners’ Club highlighted the alarming trends with regards to mental health and suggested ways to eradicate the stigma around.

In times of high stress, many people are overwhelmed with negative feelings and concerns. Especially for seafarers, worrying situations may result in high pressure due to the demanding nature of their work onboard.

Separation from family, loneliness, lack of shore leave, fear of criminalization and the simple stress of everyday workload are only a few of the challenging factors for seafarers’ mental health, and even more in times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is no secret that mental health problems affect billion of people. From stress, to schizophrenia, mental health issues are now being treated as equal to physical ones, as they are no longer a taboo. Such an issue is paranoia, where people feel like they are being threatened in some way, even if there is no evidence, or very little evidence, that they are. This also affects seafarers, and can be exacerbated due to the loneliness that seafaring comes with.

The coronavirus situation leaves seafarers feeling stressed and worried about their health, families and work environment.

Research shows an increase in suicide attempts among seafarers since the beginning of 2020, in a time when COVID-19 pandemic left thousands of seafarers stranded onboard for prolonged periods away from family, adding to the already emerging issue of crew mental health.

Seafarers' happiness levels increased at 6.46 in the first quarter of 2021 from 6.37/10 in Q4 2020, according to the latest Seafarers Happiness Index report by The Mission to Seafarers, which unveiled a mixed picture in terms of welfare standards and conditions for seafarers.

Speaking of mental health, it is known that seafarers are often struggling with feelings of loneliness, depression, and anxiety while at sea.

The Seafarers’ Charity announced the award of grants to new online services to support seafarers who have experienced sexual violence and to help tackle loneliness and suicide.

The Bahamas Maritime Authority (BMA) is announcing a new survey, the Seafarer COVID-19 Welfare Survey, designed to capture and reflect the mental health needs of seafarers.