When people are having issues with mental health it tends to show up in different ways including:
- An unhealthy or unkempt appearance/abnormal appearance
- Mood swings, emotional rollercoasters, and erratic behavior
- Easily irritated, frustrated, or angered
- Taking or needing a lot of time off
- Changes in eating or sleeping behaviors
- Moments of confusion or an inability to solve a problem
- Unnecessary fear, worry, or anxiety
- A decrease in or lack of productivity
- Withdrawal from social situations, especially with co-workers
- Abuse of drugs, alcohol, or other vices
Mental health challenges in the workplace takes a toll on worker productivity too.
- Employees experiencing just depression report it interfering with being able to complete a physical job 20% of the time and reductions in cognitive performance 35% of the time.
- Approximately, 30% of working adults with an anxiety disorder reported reduced work productivity over the previous four weeks while 0.5% of working adults without a mental illness reported the same.
- Nationally, almost 9% of working adults have a substance use disorder, including 6.7% with an alcohol use disorder and 1.6% with a cannabis use disorder.
By taking basic steps to help reduce stigma, organizations can help their struggling employees.
There are steps you can take to mitigate these issues!
- Talk about mental health at work. This breaks down stigma and gives people permission to seek support if they need it. This can be in employee meetings, individual meetings with employees or in communications like newsletters.
- Train your managers on how to support struggling employees. This includes how to recognize common signs of mental health issues as well as what resources are available to support them.
- Make Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) or other benefits known and easily accessible.
These are simple ways to break down barriers for employees to get the help they need at work.