Mental Health in the Workplace

Mental Health is not a fad. It is not only due to Coronavirus although 89% of people say it has made their 'issues' worse.

In the United States, almost half of adults (46.4 percent) will experience a mental illness during their lifetime. 5 percent of adults (18 or older) experience a mental illness in any one year, equivalent to 43.8 million people.

For the 1 in 5 who have a mental illness, this is now a part of the job applications under the "Disabilities include, but are not limited to:" area part of the application: depression, bipolar and other mental health conditions.

Do you publicly declare it? No. Do you answer 'yes' on the application? No. So why are we not talking about this with actual folks who have mental illness? Keep in mind these are "invisible illnesses." You can't see if someone has major depression or is bipolar. So roughly 1/2 of the job force has one. Yet, we hide.

I am done hiding. I know the great work I have done and do for my clients. Does panic disorder, OCD and anxiety get in the way of my job? Sometimes but a very small percentage of the time. What makes our suffering worse is the lying and hiding about even having any issues in the first place. It's time to change this policy and make mental health important enough to have counseling available just like primary doctors are. We need to stop lying and stand up and hire those who have mental illness as well as be vocal about having them.

There is no better time than in the middle of an epidemic to talk about it and shine a light on it. For me, I am doing a weekly show and a podcast and I am taking this head on. If you need a speaker, want to be on my show to talk about it and/or want to hire me send me a note.

What do you think about it?