According to the American Psychological Association (APA), 59% of workers say that work-related stress has negatively impacted their well-being. At the same time, 87% of employees reportedly felt that their employer could take actions to help address their mental health needs.
Despite this, many leaders are reluctant to engage in conversations regarding mental health at work. Inaccurate stigmas, a lack of information and other factors can keep leaders from being the ally and resource that their employees need.
When people don’t get necessary support, the outcomes can be severe. Globally, depression and anxiety alone contribute to the loss of 12 billion working days each year. Poor mental health can lower employees’ confidence, productivity and engagement at work, while also significantly disrupting their life outside of work.
While leaders can’t control everything that happens in their employees’ lives, taking steps to become a mental health ally is crucial for creating a healthy, sustainable work environment.
Why Your Team’s Mental Health Is Relevant To You
While you don’t have to be anyone’s therapist, as a leader, you do need some basic understanding of how mental health works and how a person’s job can affect their well-being.
Case in point: “toxic workplaces” — those that are defined by bullying, incivility and disrespect — have been directly linked to symptoms of insomnia, which is in itself often associated with clinical depression. With work being such a big part of an employee’s life, being forced to endure countless hours in a toxic environment can be extremely damaging to their mental and emotional well-being.
Not surprisingly, such issues can also be extremely detrimental to the business’s bottom line. Studies have consistently found that happy workers are more productive. Untreated mental health issues can directly impact their performance at work — and if an individual’s mental health challenges are directly tied to their job, they will likely quit in an effort to improve their well-being.
Educate Yourself
The first step to becoming a mental health ally is to educate yourself. A lack of understanding often contributes to a lack of compassion for employees who are struggling. When you come to understand how mental health challenges can affect people in different ways, you can gain greater empathy and be better equipped to find solutions.
Resources such as the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) are good places to start learning about a variety of mental health issues, as well as get information on what you as a business leader can do to help. Understanding the signs and symptoms of mental illness, as well as appropriate ways to respond, is a crucial starting point.
Engage In Empathetic, One-On-One Conversations
Talking about mental illness in the workplace can be challenging. But quite often, those you lead need to be heard. They need to be talked to and listened to with empathy — without judgement and discrimination.
As Susan Young Oskey, author of “The Scent of Roses” explained in a recent conversation, “My daughter Brittany was seeing a psychiatrist who lacked empathy. Instead of trying to understand what she was going through and help her address her depression, he treated her like a time slot. He was rude with her, and dismissive of me when I reached out with my concerns. I truly believe that if she had been working with a more empathetic therapist who tried to understand her and ease her struggles, she wouldn’t have turned to harmful methods of trying to relieve her emotional pain. Approaching these conversations with empathy can make all the difference.”
In the workplace, these conversations can start with basic questions, like how someone is feeling, that can lead into a more open dialogue regarding mental health. A genuine and empathetic tone, in which you are conscious of the language you use, is important for not causing someone to feel judged or stigmatized.
You should always use supportive language, demonstrating sensitivity and providing encouragement and a willingness to help your employee obtain necessary help. Going into the conversation with a plan can help you be mindful of what to say (and not to say), as well as what resources you can offer.
Offer Company Policies That Support Mental Health
One of the biggest challenges surrounding mental illness is that many people who struggle with mental health challenges feel alone.
As Oskey says, “Having dealt with depression and anxiety myself during my teens and early adulthood, it is discouraging just how alone you feel sometimes. Whether because of negative stigmas of others or simply not being aware of or having access to quality resources, feeling alone in your struggles can make these problems even worse. On the other hand, having positive support of any kind can offer much-needed relief that gets you moving in the right direction.”
To that end, the Harvard Business Review recommends that companies develop specific policies to better support mental health. This can include a formalized policy for confronting mental health stigmas and promoting best practices for mental health, creating a mental health director position, setting up employee resource groups for individuals struggling with mental illness or offering office accommodations based on specific employee needs. They also suggest, “For new entrants to the workforce, mental health is not only a priority — it’s a necessity. Ninety-two percent of new and upcoming graduates say it’s important that they feel comfortable discussing mental health at work. Sixty-one percent would leave a current role for better mental health benefits, and 54% would turn down a job offer if it didn’t come with work-life balance.”
While the above actions may not be universally applicable to every organization, leaders of any business should, above all else, make it easier for their team members to access mental health care. A benefits package that also includes coverage for mental health services and medications, not requiring disclosure of conditions for medical leave, offering on-call therapy and implementing general wellness programs can all go a long way to improve the overall well-being of your team.
Even if you feel like you can’t handle these issues on your own, ensuring your team has access to the resources they need will help you become an effective mental health ally.
Creating a Better Environment for Mental Health
Overcoming your implicit biases and understanding the needs of employees and others with mental health challenges can sometimes be a struggle for leaders. However, as you seek to learn and listen, you can become better equipped to recognize when those you lead are struggling, and work together to find ways to help them.
By making your workplace more supportive of the mental health needs of your employees, you can ensure their success — and ultimately generate better results for yourself, as well.
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