Mental Health at Work

A lot is written about mental health at work today, and many programs and companies specialise in helping value driven companies support the mental health of their staff.

But the truth is that this type of initiative must be important to, and be supported by, the leaders. Otherwise it’s just lip service driving token changes.

Becoming aware of, and setting small changes in motion doesn’t have to be extremely expensive or complicated.

Here Stephen Bitsoli, an invited guest blogger for Lighter Brighter You! explains what promoting mental health at work looks like.

How Can You Promote Mental Health at Work?

Mental health challenges affect up to one in five U.S. adults. Similar figures exist for adults in England (1 in 4 adults) and Australia (1 in 2).

With millions of working-age people struggling with their mental health, promoting good mental health at work has become more common and more important.

In addition, according to recent research, 42% of global employees have experienced a decline in mental health since the pandemic began.

Focusing on mental health in the office can help employees feel more satisfied in their positions while ensuring there are resources available when they need them most.

Provide Flexible Scheduling Solutions

As remote work becomes increasingly popular due to the global pandemic, many employers are switching up the way they expect their employees to work. One way to encourage employees to care for their mental health is to provide flexible scheduling solutions.

While some companies have transitioned all their employees to working remotely from home, others have implemented a hybrid solution, allowing employees to work from home a few days each week. This can allow them more time to focus on their mental health without feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of coming into the office.

Encouraging or mandating that employees take regular short breaks during the day and step away from their computers helps them rest their eyes and unplug.

Working from home has led to other mental health challenges though and there are companies that support both the transition to this changed way of working, and address the challenges that people may face while working from home.

Discuss the Importance of Mental Health

Ignoring mental health can lead to additional stressors, which can spiral into addiction and other issues. Instead, openly discuss the importance of mental health with your employees.

Managers, supervisors, and bosses can share personal stories of any mental health struggles and encourage others to do so. Also, let your employees know that you are there for them if they need to talk.

If you are open and honest about mental health in the workplace, your employees will be less likely to feel stigmatized if they are struggling with their mental health, and more likely to seek the help they need.

Check-In With Employees Regularly

Another way to encourage healthy discussions surrounding mental health is to check in with your employees and co-workers regularly. To determine whether someone may be struggling with their mental health, ask the following questions:

  • How are you feeling lately? Do you feel satisfied, stressed, overwhelmed, or burned out? Do you know why you are experiencing those feelings?

  • Do you need some time to step away from your work responsibilities?

  • How can I help you?

  • What can we do with your current work schedule to help alleviate some of your stress?

  • Is there anything we can do to help alleviate your mental burden?

Lending an ear can go a long way to help your employees deal with stress at work and home.

Offer Entertainment and Relaxation Solutions

You can help your employees fight stress and promote mental health by adding amenities and recreation to the workplace.

Offering a spa day to your employees, watching a movie together, or taking a day to enjoy delicious foods and drinks can help your employees relax and unwind.

Dining out only on fast food or junk food can lead to physical and mental health struggles. Provide healthy snacks such as fresh fruits, vegetables, and protein bars. When employees have healthy food options readily available, they will be less tempted to seek out unhealthy food choices.

For some employees, simply having an extra hour to themselves while at work can help them relieve stress so they can do their best work.

Create a Work Culture That Promotes Mental Health

Another way to help employees feel more comfortable discussing mental health at work is to create a culture that promotes the importance of mental health. A few ways to do this might include:

  • Checking in with employees regularly.

  • Providing on-site counseling or referrals to mental health programs.

  • Promoting the importance of good mental health in the workplace. Letting employees know that their mental health is a priority will make them more likely to feel comfortable opening up to their superiors about personal struggles.

  • Being a positive role model. Modeling healthy behaviors can encourage employees who may be struggling with their mental health to do the same. Prioritizing balance and self-care can help your employees see that it might help them.

  • Providing positive reinforcement for promoting mental health. These might include incentives and rewards for those who are willing to spend time planning relaxation trips or working with other employees to offer emotional support.

Promoting mental health at work can provide a safe space where employees feel comfortable, even when they are struggling. This can reduce turnover rates and increase overall productivity.

By having open and honest discussions about mental health, your employees are more likely to remain motivated, productive, and healthy in the workplace.

A focus on mental health at work provides more than nontangible benefits for your employees. It’s also better for the company’s bottom line. In fact, for every dollar you invest in workplace wellbeing, research has shown you’ll get $3 to $6 back.

Employers can’t expect their employees to shoulder the burden of their mental health when their work environments foster the development of mental health challenges. Although it would be wonderful if all employers could be relied on to uphold strict standards of employee care based on integrity, this is unfortunately not the case. Some employers may need to focus on the ROI of employee wellbeing programs to motivate them to do what is morally right.

NOTE: Although a lot of positive benefits exist for remote work, excessive screen time is a challenging aspect of remote work:

• We need to understand the relationship between screen time and well-being in more detail.

• We need to know how to improve emotional and physical health through responsible screen time.

• We need to encourage a two-way conversation between employees and managers around screen time.

In 2022, the average hours spent daily on screens by adults in the UK was 5 hours. This shows a 2-hour increase from the recorded data in 2020. See this article for more details around managing screen time responsibly.

About the Author
Stephen Bitsoli is a writer and editor for Sunshine Behavioral Health. He received his degree in English from Wayne State University in Detroit. The Michigan native is a professional writer and guest blogger and was a journalist for more than 20 years. Since 2016, he’s used that experience and passion in writing well-organized, comprehensive, and comprehensible articles on the complex and changing world of substance abuse and treatment. He’s won awards for his newspaper articles and was the top-ranked blogger at an international website in 2018. A lifelong reader, he enjoys learning and sharing what he’s learned.

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