health & wellness
The Milder Side of Mental Illness
WHY IT’S KEY TO THE SUCCESS OF MENTAL WELLNESS EFFORTS
By Jeff Perron
While stigma is starting to
lift around issues of mental
health, individuals with
mild-to-moderate depression
and anxiety have arguably become
more alienated than before.
Many public awareness campaigns surrounding
mental illness have related to
suicide prevention. This awareness has, in
some effect, erroneously equated mental
illness with suicide.
Though suicide is generally acknowledged
as being among the most serious
consequences of mental illness, it is far
from being the most common. In fact,
most employees dealing with issues of
mental health will never be suicidal. With
messaging emphasizing suicidality, employees
with mild depression and anxiety
may feel overlooked. Worse yet, they could
assume that because they do not feel suicidal,
that they are not truly experiencing
depression or anxiety.
Of course, suicide awareness and prevention
is a key component of any mental
health strategy. However, it doesn’t stop
there, nor should it begin there. Employers
need to be sure to put particular emphasis
on mild mental illness. In fact, this should
be the primary focus of any mental health
strategy.
HR professionals and the business
community are aware that mental illness
is a leading cause of lost productivity, absence
and disability. The majority of
mental illness-related lost productivity
is due to presenteeism – the “working
wounded.” According to one study, working
employees with depression lose 8.3
hours of productive time per week. That’s
nearly one full workweek per month, and
this doesn’t include the impact on quality
of work.
By its very nature, presenteeism often
goes unrecognized, including by the employee
who is experiencing it. With some
exceptions, traditional benefits are geared
towards helping employees who have already
self-identified as having a mental
health concerns. Of course, employees
generally access mental health benefits
only after their mental health concern has
become relatively serious. But how can
employees who have milder forms of anxiety
and depression be supported before
their symptoms become more serious?
Employees need to understand what
mild depression and anxiety look like so
that they can catch it early. This makes
health and wellness education efforts that
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HRPATODAY.CA ❚ FEBRUARY 2016 ❚ 45