Mental Health in the Workplace
An alarming 1 in 5 or 9 million adults reported having an unmet mental health need. In addition, the mental health workforce is understaffed and overworked with the number of suicides remaining at an alarming 1 every 40 seconds. The ideation of adult suicide rose over the last 4 years, despite increases in mental health reporting with the highest number of suicides being reported in the wealthiest countries.
Many mental health conditions come with physical ailments that need treatment thereby increasing the challenge and cost of treatment. It is estimated that greater coordination of medical and behavioral health care services, could save $37.6 billion to $67.8 billion a year in the U.S. About 63% of Americans are part of the US labor force which makes the workplace a key stakeholder to affect such change.
Research tells us that failure to acknowledge an employee’s mental health can hurt a company’s bottom line by affecting an employee’s:
Job performance and productivity.
Engagement with one’s work.
Communication with coworkers.
Physical capability and daily functioning.
Approximately $17-$44 billion is lost to depression each year. Depression interferes with a person’s ability to complete physical job tasks about 20% of the time and reduces cognitive performance by about 35%. Surprisingly, only 57% of employees who report moderate depression and 40% of those who report severe depression receive treatment to control their symptoms.
When depression and other mental health conditions go untreated, employees leave an organization voluntarily or are terminated, only to repeat the cycle at the next place of employment. These cycles of lost employment involve a replacement cost to hire and train new employees at an estimated cost equivalent to three months of salary. The strain of mental health conditions on businesses can be considerable yet a strategy to address workplace mental health demonstrates that $4 is returned to the economy for every $1 spent caring for mental health issues in employees.
The problem is vast and the cost is high, so what can business leaders do?
Every business’ approach to managing their mental health care will be different. In our website presentation we dive into three companies that do this well, sustainably. Click to view or download the presentation.
Successful programs often begin with the ABC’s pathway. They Approached their leadership, Built mental healthcare into their benefits and Created an accepting culture where sharing the struggles of a mental health disorder or caring for a loved one with a mental health disorder didn’t mean the end of their career advancement.
Gaining leadership includes sharing the statistical data and the costs involved. Relia’s Leadership Program can help. Once a company has full approval and backing from leadership, they can begin building their implementation team. If individuals with personal experience and/or family experience with mental health needs are available, they can be a vital asset to a company's successful implementation process.
Once the plan is in place and leadership support is available, an accepting culture which removes the stigma of mental health care is essential to full implementation. Participation and sharing should be evidenced throughout all levels of a company, from individual contributors to the CEO. Once a positive mental health culture is cultivated, participation will be more positively viewed and effective.
(1)Melek SP, Norris DT, Paulus J, Matthews K, Weaver A, Davenport S. Potential Economic Impact of Integrated Medical-Behavioral Healthcare: Updated Projections for 2017.
(2) Milliman Research Report. Seattle, WA: Milliman, Inc.; 2018.