Mental Health in the Workplace

Friday, July 28, 2023

Did you know that 4 in 5 employees report that workplace stress affects their relationships with friends, family and coworkers? Now more than ever, mental health is a concern that can’t be ignored in the workplace. 

Mental Health America (MHA) is the nation’s leading community-based nonprofit dedicated to addressing the needs of those living with mental illness and promoting the overall mental health of all. With the support of Walgreens, MHA has created an easy-to-follow toolkit for all levels of the work environment.

Their toolkit from 2022 focuses on “Creating a Culture of Support and Wellbeing”. The toolkit will help you learn how employers and individuals in leadership can develop or improve upon existing workplace policies that uplift workers, ensure that they are valued and heard and improve the overall culture of well-being within an organization.

While reviewing the toolkit, employers will find information on how to:

• Cultivate supportive people managers
• Develop an employee-driven mental health strategy
• Build an impactful mental health employee resource group
• Provide and educate employees about benefits and resources
• Find creative ways to think beyond the norms of basic benefits

Unsure of how to talk to an employee with a mental health concern? Start with the tips below:

• Educate yourself about mental health concerns in the link here.
• Ensure that you are in a mentally healthy headspace before offering support to others.
• Actively listen and give your complete attention to the speaker.
• Validate their experiences and express your understanding back to them.
• If comfortable and appropriate, relate to them on a personal level and share your own experiences.

Whether you have 2, 2,000, or 20,000 employees, there is always a way to support and improve the mental health of your organization overall.

Visit https://www.healthyadamscounty.org/resources-data/ for more resources.