Mental health has always been an issue in the workplace, but it has become a topic of special focus lately. Partially, this is caused by the fact that Americans are more stressed out than ever before. American Psychological Association’s (APA) Stress in America 2022 report shows some concerning trends. In the survey that APA conducted, 27% of the adult population said that they are so stressed on most days that they cannot function. 37% of adults reported that when they are stressed, they can’t bring themselves to do anything. It is truly alarming to think that such a significant percentage of working adults feel this way. This obviously has an enormous impact on the productivity of workers. In the same survey, 76% of adults reported that they have experienced negative health impacts due to stress. Meanwhile, Forbes reported that 21.6% of the adults in the US experienced a mental health condition in 2021. Depression and anxiety disorders are the most common of these mental health conditions. The impact of depression and anxiety have on the global economy can be measured in $1 trillion in lost productivity each year.
Statistics tell a story of increased levels of mental illness and its costly effect on organizations. At the same time, in most organizations, mental illness is a taboo that cannot be spoken about. Workers often hide their mental health issues as they are afraid that they are perceived as being weak or lesser performing. Many employees do not report their feelings of depression and anxiety because they are concerned about not being accepted by others or even losing their jobs. While many organizations offer employee assistance programs, the availability of mental health professionals is not always the best. Accessing these programs is not always easy and sometimes employees feel that they lack confidentiality. Long term psychotherapy is often not covered by health insurance leaving psychotropic medication as the most common treatment option. These medications are not effective to everyone and come with many significant and uncomfortable side effects. Therefore, many people experiencing mental illness do not seek treatment. However, mental illness that has been left untreated for too long is often very challenging to treat and can lead to poor work performance, substance abuse, poor quality of life, and even suicide.
With the limited number of effective treatment options, prevention becomes the best course of action. The best form of prevention is proper assessment followed by quality psychoeducation to enable proper psychological self-care and wellbeing. The best type of preventive care is fully confidential and allows people to learn about themselves while also offering the right resources where needed. UK based Psynergy Mental Health is an example of a program that can help organizations to improve their employees’ mental health. It is also an example of a system that can provide quality prevention for mental illness. Psynergy provides an assessment tool that allows organizations to measure the mental health of their employees. The program empowers organizations to better understand their mental health and wellbeing culture to inspire and promote positive change. This measurement guides steps to act towards positive change and continuous improvement. The platform allows organizational leaders to seamlessly gather opinions from all their workforce, saving them time and effort, and helping them to better understand the overall wellbeing of the organization. It provides comprehensive and valuable information, allowing them to precisely see areas of wellness and areas that require specific attention. From this data, Psynergy experts will carry out AI and data analysis to provide the organization with a provisional action plan, including a timeline for implementation. This, alongside the resource bank of smart suggestions, will allow organizational leaders as well as employees to easily build their personalized wellbeing strategy. Psynergy offers an individual level assessment as well as an organizational level assessment. These assessments can be customized for specific professions and type of work.
Psynergy does not replace traditional psychiatric care. However, it offers assessment tools and resources at both the individual and organizational level to understand the environmental factors that contribute to mental illness. It also supplements the existing employee assistance programs as an additional resource that can be utilized confidentially from the privacy of one’s home. One of the biggest benefits of implementing programs like Psynergy is the fact that they normalize discussions about mental health. Paying attention to factors in the organizational culture that contribute to good mental health helps people to approach the issue collectively. It facilitates understanding that mental illness is not a weakness or a character flaw. It is nothing to be ashamed about and it can happen to anyone under certain circumstances and a poor mental health culture of an organization. Psychological wellbeing is important and should be cultivated in organizations. Assessment results start discussions that lead to awareness and inspire positive change. With Psynergy, all users receive a comprehensive resource that allows them to take ownership and control of their mental health. They will be given hints and tips that allows them to practice self-care strategies to improve their overall wellbeing. The assessment and the tools provided help to create a better and more inclusive mental health workplace culture. This breaks down the stigma and barriers associated with mental health issues and achieves a sense of purpose, togetherness and belonging within the entire workplace.
To summarize, stress is a worldwide issue that leads to mental illness with depression and anxiety being the most common symptoms. Everyone is vulnerable under certain circumstances such as negative organizational culture, lack of purpose, and overall poor-quality management. Societal factors including the economy and political instability lead to a sense of insecurity and worry about the future. This is further aggravated by the organizational issues. Poor mental health is costly to individuals as well as organizations, and treatment options are often limited or have poor quality. Therefore, preventive approaches to encourage better psychological wellbeing and cultivating a psychologically accepting work environment can help significantly.
