Are we having a mental health crisis at work?

Some recent research is quite concerning…

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Are you okay?

I hope so. Some recent data that was shared by Kim MacDonald, the title of the linked article really caught my attention:

Canadian employees thinking of suicide at high rates: what can HR do differently?

What struck me were the numbers at the top of the article: 23% had thoughts of self-harm or suicide in the previous two weeks, and 36% had such thoughts in the previous year.

While this is a Canadian example, it’s not surprising, perhaps, and likely, not that much different around the world: the drivers that people are feeling are real, and not generally unique by geography.

We’ve also been seeing signs of this in research like that of the APA Stress in America research: drivers like physical illness, depression, feelings of stress, and more are all further evidence of how America is doing.

Wysa, the firm that did the Canadian survey, also did research in the U.S., Canada and the U.K.: One in five American employees had thoughts of self-harm or suicide in the past two weeks.

The World Health Organization estimated that in a company of 1000 employees, 200–300 workers will suffer from a serious mental health problem in any given year, one worker will die by suicide every ten years, and for every employee who dies by suicide, another 10–20 will make a suicide attempt.

Clearly, the data shows this is a problem: so, what can we do about it?

What can managers do?

Mental health is not innately the responsibility of a manger, but managers need to be aware of when work is being impacted, or, when work is impacting people. Jamie Dimon doesn’t seem to understand that, recently suggesting all wellness is entirely on the employee, even though employees may be working 100 hours a week: is ping pong in the office his solution? I’m not sure how that math works, and despite how severe that schedule seems, some still like the demands.

Ultimately, managers still have the “fallout” of mental health at work: they have to motivate and engage their team, and their performance, ultimately, is measured on how their teams do. Work is a team sport, after all.

In an HBR piece from 2020, Kelly Greenwood and Natasha Krol (both then working at national non-profit, Mind Share Partners, which focuses on changing the culture of workplace mental health) shared a number of tips, including:

Model healthy behaviours
Build a culture through check-ins
Communicate more than you think you need to
Invest in training

Read the full article

One last thing: If you have a good employee assistance program that is safe, don’t be afraid to point employees to those resources in an encouraging way. Sometimes, people need a helping hand, and making that feel NORMAL is vital: for everyone.

Marble bust of Seneca, Roman philosopher, symbolizing mental fortitude

Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.
Seneca (photo credit)

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