Don’t ignore Mental Health at Work!

1 in 4 adults are affected by mental illness each year, according to a survey conducted by the National Centre of Social Research. What’s more, a further 18% of adults reported experiencing poor mental health but not having been diagnosed.

World Mental Health Day is the annual global celebration of mental health education, awareness and advocacy. Every year - on 10th October - an aspect of mental health is highlighted. This year, earlier this week, the main focus was "psychological first aid and the support people can provide to those in distress".

Facts and figures

31% of employees have experienced mental health problems whilst in employment

50% of those who described their mental health as poor have taken time off for this reason.

9 out of 10 people with mental health problems experience stigma and discrimination.

We probably all work with someone experiencing a mental health problem.

The cycle of poor mental health may well be perpetuated if employers and their management teams don’t learn to spot the early signs of mental health issues in the workplace.

Employee sick leave is high

Absences from work due to health issues can be the first sign of possible mental health issues. Whilst many employees may not feel comfortable in opening up about stress, anxiety or depression as their reason for absence, taking regular shorter-term absences are likely to be a high indicator.

Employee performance

There are many reasons why employees may start to show signs of poor productivity in their job.  Once you notice a change you should ensure you recognise this with the employee and highlight why they have become less productive in their work to rule out any mental health issues.

People experiencing poor mental health may appear tired and lethargic, demonstrate an inability to make decisions and exhibit unusual displays of emotion included frequent irritability. These can be the early signs of stress or an emerging mental health problem.

High staff turnover

When employees leave your organisation, this may relate to a negative workplace culture, a lack of internal development or not enough focus on employee health and wellbeing. If your employee turnover starts to spike, it might be a result of the latter.

Employees who are experiencing mental health issues may resign because they feel that cannot get better whilst they are still at work, or they feel that work is the main cause of their poor mental health.

Employers should also provide information on any services available to support staff, for example; counselling, internal support, assistance with workload/responsibilities. It is also important to build an open workplace culture regarding mental health from the top level down. This will involve educating all employees on mental health issues and regularly monitoring staff to see how they are feeling, whilst assessing how the workplace can be improved to support positive employee health and wellbeing.

For further information you can contact Mind who offer support and information regarding mental health issues.