Is Mental Health Literacy part of your DEI toolbox?

Given all they have on their plates, what’s the responsibility of DEI leaders in promoting mental health and why is it critical for creating a truly inclusive and supportive work environment? What we do know is that mental wellbeing is not only essential for employee engagement and happiness, but also a leading driver of productivity, performance, and retention and its impact is felt disproportionately by traditionally underrepresented groups.

The state of mental health in America post-pandemic is alarming. According to the US Surgeon General, "workplace wellness" is one of the top five population health risks in the United States. It's also one of America's greatest business risks, with 81% of workers reporting that they will be looking for workplaces that support mental health in the future.?

Addressing the Disproportionate Impacts of Mental Health

Mental health issues disproportionately affect people from diverse backgrounds. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), 20% of all Americans experience a clinically diagnosable mental illness each year. However, mental illness is far more prevalent among employees from diverse backgrounds:

• Among the black population, while the prevalence of mental illness is just 3% points lower than the population at large, the annual treatment rate for black Americans is 28% points lower than for white Americans.?
• Americans from a multi-racial population have a far greater annual prevalence of mental illness at 35.8%.
• LGBTQ+ adults are more than twice as likely as heterosexual adults to experience mental illness. ?
• Veterans are 15 times more likely to experience PTSD than civilians and have a general mental illness prevalence rate greater than 25% annually.
• Woman in America experience depression at twice the rate of men over their lifetimes.
• And, highlighting the need for “Mental Well-Being” Business Resource Group’s (BRG’s) and Enterprise Resource Group’s (ERG’s), while neither disadvantaged in any way, nor a “population from a diverse background,” white men in America die by suicide at four times the rate of woman, and account for 70% of annual suicide deaths

A People and a Business Issue

What is often lost is the fact that mental health impacts organizational performance as much as physical health. Just like a physical illness, when employees experience mental illness, it impacts attendance, productivity, performance, and team dynamics. Workers struggling with a mental health condition are 27% less productive, have higher absenteeism and turnover, and 20% struggle with their emotions and get caught in fight or flight spirals.?

Here are four simple things DEI leaders can start doing immediately to make a difference:

1. Take a Mental Health First Aid class to see and learn for yourself.
2. Hold Mental Health Literacy workshops & Mental Health First Aid trainings for your organization’s senior leadership team.
3. Train all BRG and ERG leaders, participants, and advocates in mental health literacy and Mental Health First Aid.
4. Create a Mental Well-Being BRG or ERG in your company.

Fundamentally, mental health literacy is the understanding that mental illness is real, having the ability to recognize when someone around you may be struggling with their mental wellness and the tools to support them getting help. A Mental Health First Aid class as a starting point provides the necessary tools to recognize when someone is struggling and how take action to help. Similar to physical First Aid, Mental Health First Aid is an internationally recognized educational program that is credentialed in the US by the National Council of Mental Wellbeing. Since 2008, 32,000 people have become certified Mental Health First Aid trainers and nearly 3 million Americans have trained as Mental Health First Aid Responders.

Taking a Mental Health First Aid class doesn’t make you a therapist, just like learning Physical First Aid doesn’t make you a physician. It simply equips you with the tools you need to identify when someone needs help and how to encourage them to get it.

After making training available, companies such as Microsoft and Apple found reduced absenteeism and improved employee morale. When surveyed, employees at Starbucks and McDonalds who have invested similarly felt more supported by their organizations. And Walmart found reduced absenteeism and an increase in employee engagement after doing the same.

Mental health literacy is an essential tool for every DEI leader and advocate’s toolbox. By incorporating this into your DEI initiatives, you can make a real difference in the mental wellness of your organization while improving performance and accelerating your DEI priorities. So, start today by taking a Mental Health First Aid class and spread the knowledge to your organization. Together, we can create a supportive and inclusive workplace that values mental wellness.

For more information and useful resources…

Mental Health First Aid in America

New England Journal of Medicine Article on the Effectiveness of Mental Health First Aid Training in a Large Organization

National Alliance on Mental Illness

US Surgeon General Workplace Well-Being Blueprint for Change