5 Ways Your Company Can Support Employees Facing Mental Illness

And why ending stigma is a vital part of each one

Each year, more HR professionals are realizing that workplace mental illness is quickly becoming one of the greatest challenges facing companies. With global rates of depression and anxiety have increased 15-20% in the last decade, according to Mental Health: A Workplace Crisis, a report commissioned by the American Heart Association CEO Roundtable, the prevalence of mental illness can no longer be denied. 

It is also becoming increasingly clear that there is a significant cost associated. For example, according to a whitepaper I co-authored, A StigmaZero Workplace Pays in Profits, which was published in 2018 in the Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences:
 

And, according to Mentalhelp.net, an American Addiction Centers Resource:
 

These last two statistics indicate the role that stigma has to play. Overall, stigma is a negative force that can dramatically complicate and/or exaggerate the problem facing companies in general and HR professional in particular.

With that in mind, I would like to offer 5 ways your company can better support employees with mental illness:

Before any meaningful change can happen in an organization, leadership must be fully onboard and be able to lead by example. As a general rule, employees aren’t afraid to report a physical illness, such as a diagnosis of cancer for example, because they know there won’t be any stigma, judgment or discrimination attached to it. The same cannot be said for mental illness, as referenced in the statistics above.

Physical illnesses and injuries that cause unexpected absences, as well as maternity leaves, are examples of challenges to your company’s productivity that your leadership is well-prepared to address. A significant reason these are much easier to respond to than mental illness is the total lack of stigma.

Until the stigma still surrounding mental illness is addressed by leadership and ultimately eliminated company-wide, this will continue to be an unwieldy challenge.

Is your organization prepared to meet this challenge head-on? Or do your company policies need improving so your response to mental illness doesn’t add fuel to the fire of stigma? There are many examples of workplaces with informal or written policies that ensure employees are sent get-well cards and flowers when they are forced to take a medical leave of absence, however, these are only applied with physical illnesses. Often, those off on medical leave for mental illness don’t receive the same support.

This problem can be addressed with a careful review and, if needed, revision of your policies surrounding absences, return to work, etc, to ensure they are consistent regardless of the illness.

EAPs are a valuable and effective resource for any company. If your company doesn’t have currently have an EAP, setting one up is a very strong step towards supporting your employees.
Once set up, or if you already have an EAP in place, it is important to ensure yours is stigma-free.

On some occasions, EAPs erroneously list mental illnesses like depression or anxiety disorder falling under “anger management” and/or “personal issues” while cancer, for example, falls under “physical illness.” This kind of institutional stigma, however unintentional, must be identified and removed to improve how your company responds to employees facing a mental illness.

In addition, eliminating stigma in your workplace can actually improve the utilization, and therefore the impact, of your EAP. The reason is rooted in one of the most dangerous side effects of stigma: the shame and fear that leads to those facing mental illness not seeking help. When mental illnesses are ‘swept under the rug’ and individuals try to simply ‘soldier on’ and do nothing, most often they worsen.

This has been backed by research. In the research paper, How Perceptions of Mental Illness Impact EAP Utilization, published by J. McCree in the National Institutes of Health and the US National Library of Medicine, the author states:

“For both employers and EAPs, addressing the impact of stigma and perceptions of mental illness is costly, requiring greater direct employee engagement and education. However, it is a more effective means of increasing EAP use than current practices and, ultimately, can result in significantly higher net gains in productivity while reducing employers’ direct costs.”

Ending stigma takes more than simple awareness. It takes a deep understanding of what mental illness is (and what it isn’t), what stigma is and why it happens, and how we can change our workplace cultures to eradicate stigma once and for all.

Training should be provided to every level, from employees to managers, to leadership and HR personnel. This kind of culture change doesn’t happen overnight and requires a consistent effort and reinforcement. However, it can be done, and it is worth the investment.

Many companies take a great first step by providing initial one-time training, however, supporting your employees who face mental illness, and ending the stigma that comes with it, requires a diligent, consistent effort over time. Even if you have completed all of the steps outlined above, your leadership, HR, managers, and employees will need ongoing support through access to tangible, actionable tools and resources that are easy to find, easy to use and effective. Those who have been trained will greatly benefit from the ability to return to the source material at any time they wish, to provide a refresher on the concepts and strategies presented.

There are many reasons for a company to take the challenge of workplace mental illness and stigma head-on.

The negative impact that is currently felt by every employer is undeniable. There is a real cost to stigma, in the form of lost profits: when public stigma becomes internalized by an individual, it results in lower self-esteem and self-efficacy, which in turn is likely to hamper one’s productivity at work. Absenteeism, which is a traditional indicator for mental illness, might only be the tip of the iceberg: it is likely to be only a symptom of a deeper underperformance.

Although this challenge can seem daunting, there are many benefits to improving your support of employees facing mental illness, and to eliminating stigma in your workplace. These include a reduction in presenteeism; a reduction in lost productivity; improved workplace morale and culture; the ability to retain and attract top talent; and better supporting your employees.

The good news is that stigma is the one thing we have the power to change: while mental illness can be treated, stigma can be cured.

Recommended resource:
Interactive Whitepaper: Why a StigmaZero Workplace Pays in Profits