Fostering good mental health in the workplace

Every employer wants a healthy and happy workforce. Robust levels of productivity, after all, contribute mightily to the bottom line.

Recent times, however, have seen the rise of a threat to efficient operations: a growing incidence of employee mental health issues.

“Nearly one in five adults is battling a mental health condition today,” says Lynn Merritt, senior vice president at the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. “And only about half are receiving adequate treatment.”

In fall 2022, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force – a panel of medical experts appointed by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, – recommended that all adult patients under the age of 65 be screened for anxiety during their physical exams. Anxiety is described as excessive fear or worry that interferes with an individual’s normal daily activities.

“The pandemic has taken a tremendous toll on the mental health of youth and adults,” says Lori Pbert, a task force member. “We know it has heightened the trend toward more anxiety and depressive disorder that we’ve been seeing over the past decade or so.”

The workplace is being hit especially hard. Some 76 percent of full-time employees reported experiencing at least one mental health symptom in the past year, according to a survey from Mind Share Partners, a workplace wellness consulting firm. Moreover, more than half the Gen Zers who make up a growing percentage of the nation’s workforce reported symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Rising costs

Unresolved mental health issues can lead to burnout, anxiety and depression – common causes of absenteeism and poor performance.

Employers also incur direct costs in the form of spikes in disability claims and health insurance premiums. Finally, high stress levels can result in an increase in resignations at a time when employers can ill afford to lose personnel.

“Fifty percent of survey respondents reported leaving their jobs due to mental health reasons,” says Michael Davis, principal at Mind Share Partners.

Notably, the comparable figures were 68 percent for millennials and 80 percent for Gen Zers.

The aftereffects of COVID-19 are the most immediate cause of the public’s increasing stress levels. But while the pandemic has disrupted lives and created anxiety about the future, psychologists say other factors are in play.

“Shootings and other violence in the news, social justice issues, economic uncertainty and a sense of political polarity have all made people keenly frightened,” says Bernie Dyme, president of Perspectives, a workplace wellness consulting firm. “They feel the world is not comfortable, safe and secure.”

Moreover, these societal pressures are hitting employees as they struggle to handle the growing workloads and longer hours resulting from the business world’s continuing drive for greater productivity. Such workplace-specific pressures are only made worse by the tight labor conditions that have been the legacy of the great resignation. When job positions go unfilled, already overworked personnel must handle additional responsibilities.

Related: Why constructive feedback is essential to safety culture

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