Mental Health in the Workplace

You’ve just landed your new job! After months of searching, applying, and being ghosted, you receive and accept a job offer. Your first week of training begins next week. You mentally prepare yourself for what could be a fun or dreadful first five days. How bad could it be, right? It couldn’t be as bad as the search process, or could it?

Updating your LinkedIn profile, tweaking your resume, searching through job listings, and preparing for interviews, the process of finding a job is a stressful one. Today, more and more people who find themselves out of work are living with a mental health condition. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, one in five adults, or 57.8 million Americans, has a mental health condition. While many organizations invest in mental health, there is still a long way to go to create a more equitable and inclusive workplace.

It is no surprise that the pandemic forever changed how many people now work, shop, and eat. Employers and employees both know that prioritizing mental well-being is now a necessity. The shared experiences of many worldwide provided tangible evidence on a massive scale that mental health impacts business. Organizations no longer question how brain health affects the bottom line, productivity, and office morale.

As we continue in the pursuit of improving mental health in our community and the workplace, it is imperative that we proactively take steps to support the family. One of the growing challenges facing any business is attracting and retaining talent. Employees are asking much more from employers than great pay and benefits. Working fathers are seeking greater work-life balance, prioritizing individual and family well-being.

For humankind, the pandemic was a wake-up call to the harsh reality of mental health struggles faced by so many. It was perhaps the perfect combination of uncertainty with rising prices, supply shortages, job insecurity, and the threat of illness or death around every corner. If this wasn’t enough, the safety precautions to protect our families and friends drove many to new levels of loneliness and depression. Political division, civil unrest, and the list goes on and on.

Leaders are often so focused on others that they neglect their needs. Serving your team and those around you is great but can lead to burnout and struggles. Even the best leaders need to focus inward and take care of themselves to ensure the energy and focus on their team. Being overworked, over-tired, and stress can eliminate all the hard work a leader does and sabotage results.

Mental health in the workplace is a critical issue that affects employers and employees alike. As we think about mental health in a business sense, it’s vital to realize that it isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for individuals or businesses. Resources, tactics, timing, and impact are different for each organization. You may be far from recognizing and helping support mental health or unsure what to do next. Don’t worry! Either way, there are easy ways to take one step forward in pursuing better mental health.

Local mental and behavioral health leaders met with Leadership Edmond (LE) Class 37 during the classes’ 2023 Healthcare Day. Panelists shared their perspectives, tips, and resources and provided discussion points to help the LE participants engage in mental health-related conversations at work and home. The reasoning and discussions around this event started as a result of the Behavioral Health Assessment, which I wrote about in last month’s column. 

Some stigma originates from society, culture, or other people. Stigma can also originate from inside ourselves. Feelings of being ostracized or disgraced can occur when you think you are different than those around you. 

What in the world has happened to customer service? Hardly a day goes by that I don’t feel disrespected or ignored in a store or on a call to “customer service.” I’m old-fashioned, and I grew up in very small towns, where I often knew the owner of a business.