Seafarer Mental Health Support Should Go Beyond Self-Help
Self-help is not enough
IOSH research on seafarers’ mental health and well-being indicates that guidance and support resources often focus on self-help for seafarers, including resilience building, and on reactive measures by employers, such as counselling.
At the same time, many employers do not see a need to invest in proactive measures aimed at reducing sources of stress. Responsibility for mental health should therefore not rest solely with individual seafarers: employers also need to address working conditions that create or intensify pressure.
Mental health in international standards
A study on the role of information and communication technology in seafarers’ well-being notes that the ILO Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 refers to occupational mental health effects and the physical and mental effects of fatigue under Guideline B4.3.1.
Available support
The Ukrainian-language WeCare booklet from Mission to Seafarers provides basic guidance on protecting seafarers’ well-being onboard.
Mission to Seafarers reports that its chaplains work in more than 200 ports across six continents, providing social, economic and spiritual support regardless of a seafarer’s religion, nationality or gender.