October 10 is world Mental health day.

Today, Thursday, October 10, is World Mental Health Day.  Increasingly, mental-health conditions are relevant workforce issues, costing the US economy an estimated $280 billion a year (Mental Health Is Costing the US Economy Billions — Increasing Access Could Be the Solution | Columbia Business School).  Lyra, a company that helps employers and individuals access mental-health care, recently interviewed more 3,400 employees worldwide and found that 65% said mental health interfered with their work performance in 2023.  

Percent of employees experiencing mental health challenges

Specifically, as seen above, employees indicated they were less focused at work (46%), less engaged at work (42%) and less productive at work (36%) because of their mental health challenges, with depression and anxiety increasingly cited as primary issues.  These conditions are more serious with potentially more negative impacts than the more common workplace issues of “burnout” and work-related stress.  

The study showed a substantial increase in serious mental-health incidences, including self-harm, suicidal thoughts and intimate partner violence, as seen in the chart below.  The Lyra results regarding suicide are consistent with data from the US Centers for Disease Control, which indicate that suicides and attempted suicides have been increasing since the COVID Pandemic and are at their highest rates since the 1940’s. Sadly, CDC data show that a death by suicide occurs every 11 minutes in the United States.  See more here: Suicide Data and Statistics | Suicide Prevention | CDC 

Employees report an increase in serious mental health issues

Increasingly, workers are affected by their children’s mental health issues. In fact, 55% of workers surveyed by Lyra said they care for a child under 18 who is suffering from a mental-health issue. Like it or not, these workers bring their family issues to work with them – 1 in 3 workers with affected children said their child’s mental health condition had a “significant” or “severe” impact on their ability to do their jobs over the past year.  

While most companies provide mental-health benefits, employees are asking for more and different help to support their children.  The Lyra report offered the following advice: 

For HR and benefits teams, the clear first step is ensuring that your current benefits program includes access to comprehensive mental health care for kids. But outreach is vitally important, too: Adding support such as employee resource groups (ERGs) for parents of children with mental health needs, community programs and coaching specifically designed for parents, and flexible work hours are all meaningful ways to improve working parents’ mental health while reducing the impact of employee mental health issues on business (2024 State of Workforce Mental Health, Lyra Health, p14). 

As with so many workforce issues, front-line managers are the most likely to see the signs of mental-health stress in their employees.  Few managers are equipped to address these issues. They need training, a clear process to follow, and a well-defined support system from company leadership if they are going to help their employees in appropriate ways.  

Locally, TiER 1 Performance, a Covington-based company, has published a detailed mental-health tool kit for employers.  Called “Starting the Conversation,” the kit outlines a multi-step process with lots of examples and easy-to-adapt tools to create a personalized program for interested employers.

“Supporting mental health is not only the human thing to do, it directly impacts an organization’s performance. Organizations that have engaged with the Start the Conversation journey have seen measurable impacts of an increased culture of trust,” said Meg Switala, Director of Healthy Cultures at TiER1 Performance. “In addition, reducing the stigma of mental health increases the likelihood of employees seeking treatment for mental illness sooner which impacts lost employee potential from absenteeism and presenteeism.” 

The program has been recognized as a model by the American Psychiatric Association. The toolkit can be requested here. 

If your company has questions about mental health or other workforce issues, contact NKY Works at 859.657.WRKS (9757) or NKYWorks@NKADD.org.