mental illness – Workforce

March 31, 2020October 18, 2024

Communicate mental health resources to employees during the COVID-19 outbreak

mental health, resources, health care, etc.

COVID-19 clearly has severe and potentially deadly physical symptoms. But that doesn’t mean mental health is something that can be sidelined for now.

Parents with children they must homeschool are feeling the stress of working, teaching and having little to no free time to take care of themselves. People who have certain mental illnesses may find themselves especially vulnerable in times of social or physical distancing.

And employees on the front lines like health care workers, delivery people and grocery store employees may find themselves stressed due to the nature of their jobs and having a greater risk of interacting with people who have COVID-19.

“With the workplace a defining part of many individuals’ lives, managing employee morale and mental health, as well as providing resources and support to help them cope, is understandably top of mind with employers,” said Brad Hammock, co-chair of employment law firm Littler Mendelson’s Workplace Safety & Health Practice Group and a leader of the firm’s COVID-19 Task Force, in a press release.

While businesses must manage many other legal and operational issues, progressive employers are also focusing on resources and means of support to help employees cope, according according to a recent report from Littler.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people who may respond more strongly to the stress of the COVID-19 crisis include those are especially vulnerable to the virus (older people and those with chronic diseases), children and teens, people with mental health or substance abuse issues and caregivers and health care providers who are helping others deal with health issues.

The CDC provides ways to cope with mental health issues — including taking breaks from watching the news, making time to unwind and connecting with loved ones. But the workplace has a role as well.

Also read: Mental health in low-wage workers

HR plays a central role in tempering employees’ feelings of anxiety, according to Human Resource Executive. “Remind employees that every single person in the organization, including the CEO, is facing unprecedented upheaval, fear and uncertainty — and that the only way to get through this is by pulling together and supporting each other like never before,” the article advised.

Further, while employee assistance programs have generally been underutilized, now is an ideal time to communicate the usefulness of EAPs to employees, according to HRE. EAPs address personal and professional challenges that employees may face, including financial problems, substance abuse issues, grief, family issues and stress. These areas of one’s life are also areas that could be greatly impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak, the article noted.

Nonprofit news organization Marketplace suggests that employers offer and communicate the availability of telehealth mental health care. It also noted that accessible, affordable care is important. For example, Starbucks is offering all U.S.-based employees and their family members with access to 20 free therapy sessions starting April 6. These sessions are available through video appointments as well as in-person appointments.

Also read: The Mental Health Parity Challenge

The Canadian Mental Health Association advises that employers communicate in a reassuring manner. “Know that work will likely be impacted — work will slow down, necessary travel may be canceled. Reassure staff that expectations will shift accordingly, and that’s OK. The company will get through this.”

Organizations can also refer employees to reports indicating that most people who become infected with the virus will recover, the Canadian Mental Health Association noted. They can also emphasize with employees that they know this is a stressful time and that it’s OK to feel anxious.

Mental health in low-wage workers

employers mental health; Millennials and mental health

Mental illness impacts people from every demographic — be it age group, race, job type, socioeconomic group or gender. Still, despite these similarities, low-wage workers face unique challenges to addressing their mental health concerns.

The Midwest Business Group on Health held a one-day conference on mental health access and stigma in the workplace last week, and one theme that came up in a few presentations was addressing mental health in low-wage workers.

Also read: Mental illness cuts across the workplace hierarchy

Bruce Sherman — chief medical officer at the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, longtime researcher of health issues, and medical director, population health management at Conduent HR Services — did a presentation called “Do wages buy happiness?” He confirmed that, yes, wages are important in the sense that in the past 15 to 20 years, low-wage workers have gotten the smallest pay increases in relation to their income and high-wage workers have gotten the largest pay increases in relation to their income.

Needless to say, wages do matter.

The conversation goes past that, though. Sherman is currently working on a research project on this topic whose results are not public yet, but he also provided a high level overview of some the issues low-wage workers may face with mental health care and access.

Worsening income inequality is one reason these workers may face trouble. Another major reason is productivity demands, Sherman said.

Rising productivity expectations is not a surprise to me. Research for a few recent stories have led me to data points or findings that support this. For example, according to the 2018 European Agency for Safety and Health at Work report, “Managing Performance Enhancing Drugs in the Workplace: An Occupational Safety and Health Perspective,” workers in low-paid jobs that are not protected under standard labor laws may feel increased pressure to hit certain productivity levels, especially since they are increasingly being monitored by their employers. Not wanting to lose a job they rely on, they may turn to smart drugs. “Electronic means of monitoring employees are likely to be accompanied by an increase in the stresses on workers,” the article noted.

Also read: The workplace is not immune to the impact of social determinants of health

Sherman also informed the audience at MBGH’s event that the perception of mental health stigma may vary by socioeconomic status. There are two types of stigma — public stigma refers to discrimination or stereotyping from other people and private stigma refers to people internalizing stigma in a way that eats away at their self-worth. Low-wage workers often have a greater sense of personal stigma with behavioral health disorders, Sherman said.

This type of personal barrier also exists among cost issues and broader, structural barriers, like the lack of available psychiatrists in their insurance network or the the lack of nearby mental health care based on where they live.

Sherman suggested a few types of ways employers can address these issues. Through benefits design, they can consider eliminating mental health copays for employees so they can access behavioral health services. Ocean Spray is an example of a company who has done this, as of July 2019.

In an article Workforce published last March, Sherman gave more suggestions for changes in benefits design to address mental health in low-wage workers:

“Some employers offer hourly employees a half day every year specifically to see their doctor for preventive care services, he said. Other employers offer paid sick leave to all employees, including hourly workers. And other employers have ditched ‘just-in-time’ scheduling practices and opted for fixed work hours for all employees — a perk for hourly employees since variable scheduling limits predictable income for employees living paycheck to paycheck.”

Organizations can also leverage community social services that employees could take advantage of, Sherman said. Further, they can consider what workplace contributors may add to behavioral health problems and address those workplace issues.

Also read: Business group releases employer guide for managing diabetes in low-wage employees

One final suggestion to address mental health in low-wage workers relates to mental health stigma, and I found it rather interesting. Diversity programs could include information that addresses the negative stereotypes associated with mental health problems. I don’t know of any diversity programs doing this, but I’d be interested in hearing from anyone who is involved with a program like that!

Final takeaways from the MBGH conference:

1. Jeremy Nobel — the founder of The Unlonely Project who currently serves on the faculty of the Harvard Medical School in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine — spoke about the negative impact of loneliness on people. He mentioned that LGBTQ+ employees, minorities and people with major illnesses or disabilities are especially susceptible to isolation, and mentioned some activities to help them feel connected.

This was interesting and valuable in its own way, but what I found was missing from his presentation was what external factors might make some of these groups of people feel isolated at work. These are groups of people that are likely to be discriminated against in the workplace compared to straight people, white people or people without disabilities. If your organization is pushing for these deeper connections between people but not addressing the reality that even casual discrimatation or harassment will stifle these connections, can it really address this issue?

2. What’s the actual definition of a crisis? Any time I attend a health-related conference, most every public health issue is deemed a crisis. While I understand some of this mentality, I also wonder how we as individuals, governments or organizations are supposed to pay attention to so many health crises at the same time and give them all the proper attention.

3. I wrote a little about generational stereotypes about mental health last week. My overall argument was that both older and younger employees have health issues, and only paying attention to how millennials or Generation Z “can’t handle stress” or whatever can be infantilizing. Also, it leaves older people out of a very important discussion about finally getting help for mental health issues.

I want to add one more thought. Business/health conferences tend to have an older crowd. That makes sense; they’re professionals who have a deep history in the industry. But where’s the voice of these “young people” who apparently have so many more mental health issues than generations before them?

What I think would be interesting is if there was a way for teenagers or young 20-somethings to share their perspective on the mental health of their generation versus older ones. It could be an opportunity for people in different generations to share their stories. For every “Kids these days get all their self-esteem from social media and that destroys their mental health!” from a 40-something parent, maybe a 16-year-old could clarify how common or uncommon that actually is. It could be an opportunity to address certain generational stereotypes head-on.

January 23, 2020June 29, 2023

Mental illness cuts across the workplace hierarchy

Money, power and status do not protect people against mental illness.

Executives are affected by mental illness as often and as severely as other segments of the workforce, said Dr. Samuel Ball, director of psychology and executive programs at Silver Hill Hospital. He specializes in treating executives suffering from mental illness.

Alcoholism is one of the most common afflictions, Ball said, followed by personality disorders and mood disorders such as depression and anxiety. Executives struggling with depression may have difficulties with productivity and have to force themselves to perform their job due to lower energy levels and interpersonal skills, while some people afflicted with alcoholism can drink heavily while often being functional at work.

A group of high achievers may be initially reluctant to admit the problems they’re experiencing, Ball said. They feel a “different kind of shame about the problems they’re struggling with because they’re on a pedestal. So many people rely on them, [and] so many people look up to them at work and in their family.”

They need to feel secure, he added, describing a patient who felt comfortable speaking up because the CEO gave him a clear message that they wanted him back after treatment.

Home Life Versus Work Life

An executive’s spouse and family play a critical role in convincing them to get help.

“In a number of cases, the problem is not as widely known at work as it is at home. And the spouse has gotten to the end of their rope with [their] concerns,” Ball said.

At work, the executive will “put on the best face or a mask of maintaining their competency” because they’re motivated to maintain their career status. But when they get home, it’s different. Their spouse will usually be the one to convince them to get treatment.

If someone has these health issues, it can negatively impact their spouse and children, especially children in their teenage years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, growing up in a family with mental health or substance abuse problems is considered an adverse childhood experience — a potentially traumatic event that occurs in childhood and increases people’s risk for health problems as adults.

This group of patients generally have the means to afford outpatient treatment, which is a good first step, Ball said. The patients he sees, though, are often the ones too ill for outpatient treatment. Instead of living at home and regularly seeing a psychiatrist, they need inpatient care. Ball will get a phone call from the spouse, who has done the research to find the ideal place for inpatient care — usually somewhere in a different city that’s nearby enough that family can visit.

How Peers and Employees Can Respond

When an executive’s mental health is severe, employees and peers may notice. But knowing what to do or how to express sympathy or concern is different. For those employees who report to this higher-ranking person, it can be difficult to know what to do, if anything.

Also read: The mental health parity challenge

An exception might be if an executive has a trusted assistant who has been with them for a long time, Ball said. This type of direct report may have some ability to do something about the situation, especially if they play a “work spouse” role in this person’s life. But a majority of direct reports are not in this situation.

Typically, these high-ranking people won’t go to HR or contact an employee assistance program, Ball said.

“These executives report to the most senior people in the organization. And when they do finally admit to having a problem, if they do admit it, it’s not clear to them where to go in the organization to get support,” he said.

Usually it’s the one or two people above them — usually the CEO or COO — telling them to go on leave to get treatment that finally makes them get help, Ball said.

“They’ll say something like, ‘You’re incredibly valuable to us and we want you back, but you’re not well enough to work now. Take a month, two months, but we want you to get into a treatment program,’” he said.

Still, HR has power here. Lower-level employees may bring their concerns to HR, and an HR representative can speak directly with the CEO or COO, who typically are not surprised by the information, Ball said. From there, the CEO or COO can lead the intervention with the sick executive, and the HR person can stay in the meeting as an observer, especially if there’s been any sort of wrongdoing or complaints about the executive’s behavior.

It’s especially helpful if their boss can show sympathy in this discussion, Ball said.

“When this has gone well, their boss is either someone who has struggled with depression or alcohol, or it’s in their family. And they’ll have that discussion with their affected employee and say something like, ‘I know what this is like, and you’ve got to take care of this,’” he said.

Fighting Stigma

A prime reason executives fear coming forward with mental health issues is the fear that their progress at the company will effectively stall and that people will wonder when their next relapse will be.

“Even if they don’t lose their job, the reputational fallout of people knowing they’ve gone off to rehab is significant,” he said.

Some workplace experts encourage leaders to be open about their mental health struggles in order to decrease stigma for employees. However, since even these leaders experience stigma, talking openly about mental health at work is a hard but courageous thing to do, according to Ball.

Still, he said that it does have a positive effect on the workplace when leaders are honest and open about their struggles. He mentioned a patient who, upon preparing to leave soon, plans to go back to work and share broadly with the workforce that he’s been on leave treating his depression. This executive said he wanted people to take better care of themselves and recognize the signs that he did not.

“I think it’s courageous when people do that,” Ball said. “It’s helpful to employees when they send that message.”

October 4, 2019June 29, 2023

By the Numbers: Mental Health in the Workplace

Mental illness is an obstacle that impacts many individuals, communities and places of work. The Human Capital Media research department gathered national and international data to explore how prevalent mental illness is, how often people get help and how much mental illness impacts the global economy.

Also in By the Numbers: Diversity in the Workplace

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