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Mental Health Problems At Work
Why Companies Need To A Plan To Handle The Surge
In a recent article, I wrote how stigmatised mental health issues still seem to be in our society. I find this is doubly true at work. People will talk to doctors, family members and friends but are still wary of revealing any mental illness to their employer. We need to talk more about mental health problems at work because work is where many of us spend a third of our day or more.
I believe that we can write as many articles as we like stating mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of, but until companies put a robust system in place, far too many people will fall through the cracks. This doesn’t just impact the person, it negatively affects their colleagues, the business and the employee’s family.
The Financial Cost
It’s hardly the key concern, but it’s worth highlighting the financial impact mental health issues have on businesses due to lost productivity. The World Health Organisation estimates that $1 trillion is lost worldwide per year due to mental health problems. Quite a scary figure, isn’t it? Closer to home, for me anyway, Deloitte reported that poor mental health costs UK business £45 billion a year.
