It is true that work from home has opened new avenues for employees as they are able to save more money, spend time with family and work without distractions. However, for many, it has also become synonymous with stress and anxiety as they struggle to cope with mental health issues.
The Standard and Versta Research recently released their 2020 Behavioral Health Impact UpdateOpens a new window , which revealed that mental health issues are much more common than we think. People are suffering across industries. And while they are hesitant in seeking help, employers are also turning a blind eye.
How Bad Is the Mental Health Issue at Work?
Currently, all industries are dealing with mental health issues. However, the study revealed that there are some that are witnessing higher numbers of specific mental health issues, such as fatigue in the tech sector, PTSD in government, and work issues in finance.
Similarly, employees across industries are struggling to deal with addiction and substance abuse. “The majority of issues come from struggles with alcohol, however, many workers also struggle with other drugs and substances,†the study added. Also, the healthcare and manufacturing industries are affected the most by this malice.
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Impact of Stress and Poor Mental Health
Almost 30% of the surveyed employees have reported being less productive. They also tend to miss out on work, or even take leaves. This often results in them quitting or getting fired from a job.
Also, more than half of the respondents said that they have had a co-worker who has been less productive due to a mental health issue. Unfortunately, healthcare workers knowing co-workers with mental health issues are even higher.
Source: The Standard and Versta
Are Employees Seeking Help?
When it comes to seeing help from employers, employees are not comfortable at all. The study found that 81% of the respondents are comfortable seeking professional help but only 38% feels so when it comes to their employers, especially in the government and education sectors. Also, only about half of the employees are comfortable accepting help from their employers.
The numbers are quite similar when it comes to seeking help for addiction and substance abuse. “Accepting help from an employer for substance abuse is also a major obstacle, especially in education and finance,†noted the study.
Are Employers Listening?
As already discussed, an unhappy workforce struggles to meet business goals. Thus, it should be prerogative for employers to take care of the mental health of the employees. However, as rightly observed by the study, part of what factors into whether an employee seeks or accepts help from their employer is their concern about how their employer would react. Employees are further worried about any consequences which would hamper their career.
Though more than 50% of respondents believe that their employer would keep them on the job and make accommodations. However, the fear of being fired and treated differently makes them keep mum about any mental health issue they are facing.
Source: The Standard
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In Closing
It is necessary for organizations to build a workplace culture that fosters good mental health so that employees are able to give their 100% in the job. And to come up with such a culture, employers need to step in and take matters into their own hands. It is also this aspect, where most of them fail.
The Standard study revealed that only a minority of workers feel their employers are doing enough to address behavioral health in the workplace. Even though employees in the tech industry gave their employers the highest rating, a majority of them are not happy.
Organizations should consider coming up with policies like health insurance that covers depression medications and mental health counselling and subsidized lifestyle coaching or self-management programs to help employees cope up with mental health issues. They can also consider making mental health self-assessment tools available to employees and host employee seminars or workshops focused on stress management techniques.