Top Five Mental Health Challenges in the Workplace and How to Address Them

Open discussions about mental health are a fairly recent phenomenon. While this is a step in the right direction, there needs to be more emphasis on mental health in the workplace, and for good reason.

A recent poll conducted by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) revealed that 15% of employees between the ages of 18 and 29 consider their mental health to be on the poor end of the scale.

The same poll also revealed that 70% of senior employees have not been provided with the necessary training on how to have discussions surrounding mental health with their teams. 

The state of your employee’s mental health also has a substantial impact on your business, extending far beyond the individual. According to the World Health Organization, sadness and anxiety account for 12 billion lost working days each year. This equates to a staggering $1 trillion in missed output.

With the importance of the issue established, let’s get right into it.

5 Mental Health Challenges in the Workplace and How to Address Them

Given how competitive and stressful the work has grown in recent years, mental health is an understandable concern. With this in mind, let’s take a look at the most common factors influencing mental health at work, their impact on those who suffer from them, and what you can do about it.

Challenge 1: Stress And Burnout

Stress and burnout are the leading employee mental health challenges today.

Medically speaking, stress is the body’s normal reaction to a difficult environment. In the job, this could be due to tight deadlines or an especially hectic day. Surprisingly, a small amount of stress might be advantageous, giving you bursts of energy to help you get through activities.

However, when the body is stressed for an extended period of time, it develops burnout, which is a state of emotional, mental, and physical shutdown.

How Do Stress and Burnout Affect One’s Health and Productivity at Work?

Prolonged stress and burnout result in one suffering from constant aches and pains, fatigue, trouble with digestion, disturbed sleep, and, in more serious cases, a compromised immune system.

The influence on an employee’s mental health is significantly greater. Anxiety, sadness, and cognitive deterioration are the most prevalent consequences of chronic stress and burnout.

At work, an employee suffering from stress and burnout will show a drastic drop in productivity. They will seem disinterested and disengaged with everything around them and will tend to skip work more often due to frequent illnesses. 

What Can You Do to Address This?

According to the Work in America Survey conducted by the American Psychological Association(APA) this year, nearly 67% of employees are experiencing at least one negative mental health outcome due to workplace burnout.

As people in a position bring about changes in your organization, here are a few strategies to consider to address this challenge.

  • Create a positive work environment. A positive work environment automatically reduces stress levels in your team, which is a precursor to burnout.
  • Normalize discussions surrounding mental health: Normalize discussions around the subject so that employees do not suffer silently. According to the same NAMI poll, only 58% of employees are comfortable discussing their mental health at work. Normalize discussions about the problem so that staff don’t suffer in silence.
  • Implement Employee Assistance Programs: Employee assistance programs provide employees with a way to seek the aid they need.
  • Encourage breaks and time-offs: Employees, though are resources from a business perspective, are still human. Encourage them to take breaks during the day or even a few days off to recharge without fear of any impact on their work life.

For a deeper dive into actionable strategies, you can explore this guide on reducing stress in the modern workplace, which offers additional insights to help manage stress effectively.

Challenge 2: Workplace Anxiety

According to Forbes, anxiety is the most common mental health ailment among Americans in the job. Unlike burnout, anxiety is particularly difficult to treat because it is frequently caused by “anticipation” of certain occurrences.

In the job, this could range from imminent deadlines to the basic fear of having to deal with one’s coworkers.

Impact on Decision-Making and Workplace Performance

Workplace anxiety can have a wide-ranging impact on employees. Emotionally, it frequently produces feelings of dread, uncertainty, and self-doubt. An employee who is struggling at work tends to go into a downward spiral of overthinking, indecisiveness, and a persistent dread of failure, all of which have a negative impact on their cognitive ability.

Employees who suffer from anxiety struggle to prioritize tasks or respond correctly to difficulties because their minds are always in a state of fight or flight. Their continual dread of failure frequently causes individuals to disconnect from duties and other team members, which can drastically impair both their individual and team performance.

What Can You Do to Address This?

Suppose you implement the suggestions we offered in the previous section of this blog. In that case, you will have already established a solid foundation on how to improve anxiety-induced mental health problems in the workplace.

That said, since anxiety stems from uncertainty and the fear of failure, you could consider the following solutions.

  • Set realistic deadlines and performance goals: Tight deadlines are prevalent in all workplaces, yet unreasonable deadlines are sometimes agreed upon in order to satisfy clients. Ensure that deadlines are realistic and that employees do not feel pressed to fulfill unattainable ones.
  • Implement flexible work policies: Sometimes workplace worry is simply that: anxiety. To reduce workplace stress, offer vulnerable employees the option of working remotely. Your employees will have time to recover while you continue to work.
  • Ensure Fair Workload Distribution: Workloads should be regularly monitored to ensure that no single person is taking on an inappropriate amount of work.

Challenge 3: Depression

Depressive Disorder, more commonly known as Depression, is characterized by a persistent sense of despair and hopelessness, as well as a general disinterest in virtually every aspect of life.

Depression in the workplace results in a drop in concentration, missed deadlines, and, in certain cases, actively avoiding interaction with co-workers.

Unlike burnout and anxiety, which are caused by workplace stress and chronic stress, depression is caused by unresolved emotions (especially those that have not been addressed for a long time).

Prolonged bouts of depression can worsen pre-existing health issues and raise the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Long-Term Effects of Depression at the Workplace

Depression can wreak havoc on one’s mental health in the workplace – the aftereffects of which can extend to entire teams.

When depression goes unchecked at the workplace, an employee either tends to take additional days off from work or tends to be physically present but mentally disconnected from the office environment, both of which affect team members who have to pick up the slack. 

In cases of severe depression, individuals also tend to lash out at co-workers, which can create a toxic work environment. From a business standpoint, it can drive up your employee turnover rate as employees leave in favor of healthier work environments. 

What Can You Do to Address This?

Getting through to a person suffering from depression requires a professional. You can, however, train your leadership and your HR personnel to improve their emotional intelligence in order to be able to:

  • Identity employees who are dealing with depression.
  • Engage with them.
  • Provide the necessary interventions to help them cope with the situation.

Challenge 4: Loneliness and Isolation

Remote work has become the preferred mode of working for a lot of Americans. According to the Pew Research Centre, roughly 71% think it helps them balance their professional and personal lives. However, the same poll revealed that more than half of them lacked a connection with their coworkers, which led to a sense of isolation.

The Impact of Remote Work on Mental Health

While some employees thrive by themselves, others find themselves isolated or alienated due to the lack of in-person social interaction. When this feeling persists for an extended period, it leads to feelings of anxiety, depression, and burnout, ultimately diminishing workplace engagement and productivity.

Social connections play a crucial role in maintaining positive mental health and workplace relationships. Regular interaction with peers, be it in-person meetings or simple chats during coffee breaks, improves bonding between team members. This, in turn, installs a sense of belonging at work, better team dynamics, and ultimately more productive teams.

To further explore how you can foster mental health support for remote teams, check out this detailed guide on supporting the mental health of your remote team.

What Can You Do to Address This?

Isolation and loneliness are tricky situations to combat as it does not similarly affect each employee. That said, there are a few actionable strategies you can consider:

  • Keeps the options open for a hybrid model: Yes, the general trend worldwide is getting back to working five days a week from the office. A hybrid model will give your employees the best of both worlds—the option to come to work when they are feeling lonely or to work remotely when they feel overwhelmed by the workplace.
  • Encourage periodic meetups: If you work with fully remote teams, encourage periodic meetups to combat isolation. These can be mandatory days at work to encourage interaction between teams or even non-work-related get-togethers.
  • Set clear working hours: Remote workers often find the lines between work and their personal lives get blurred. Restrict working hours to enable them to interact with people outside of work.

Challenge 5: Work-Life Imbalance

A work-life imbalance has a direct impact on mental health and one’s performance at work. The first four challenges discussed above clearly elucidate the consequences when the lines between work and personal life start to blur.

Overworked employees often exhaust themselves to the point where they can no longer function effectively. Physically, prolonged overworking takes a toll on the human body and can impact everything from the immune system to the cardiovascular system.  From a mental health perspective, chronic overworking can trigger one or even all of the above conditions.

This can impact morale and employee productivity at work. The impact also flows over to one’s personal life and can strain relationships, leading to a vicious downward spiral on both fronts.

What Can You Do to Address This?

Addressing the challenge of work-life balance is perhaps the easiest among the issues discussed here. Here are a few actionable steps you as leaders can implement to maintain a work-life balance and improve mental health in your workplace:

  • Lead by example: According to Deloitte’s Women @ Work 2024 report, nearly 95% of employees felt that requesting flexibility or taking advantage of existing flexible work policies or opportunities can impact their careers. Lead by example, demonstrate that one’s well-being is as important as productivity, and encourage your employees to do so. You will see an improvement in overall team morale and, in turn, productivity.
  • Offer flexibility: Give your employees the flexibility to work around personal commitments. Your employees will work a lot more efficiently without having to worry about pending personal commitments.
  • Promote a Culture of Boundaries: Take a page out from Australia’s recently passed “Right to Disconnect” law, which allows employees to ignore work calls after hours and on weekends. Encourage your managers and employees to set boundaries between work and personal life.

How to Identify Employees Who Need Help?

As leaders, you understand that you cannot change policies overnight to improve mental health in the workplace. Change takes time in the real world. That said, you can, however, identify employees who need support with their mental health and provide them with the support they need. The following are some tell-tail signs to look for:

  • A sudden drop in enthusiasm toward work and a drop in their quality of work.
  • Physical signs of exhaustion or falling ill frequently.
  • Noticeable mood swings and irritability.
  • Reduced participation in meetings and withdrawal from colleagues

Summing It Up

Mental health in the workplace” is not just a topic for discussion; it is a real-world problem that warrants immediate action. As leaders, you are in a position to be the change required to address all of the mental health conditions discussed above.

Any steps you take will help individuals improve their mental health, and entire teams can be impacted as a result, too. Remember, a healthy team (physically and mentally) is a productive team.

One of the first steps you can take to improve mental health is to raise awareness among your leadership and employees. You can do this via Engagedly, a comprehensive learning platform that can help you raise awareness, connect with your employees, conduct surveys to understand their needs, track their productivity levels, and appreciate their efforts. What’s more, you can stay connected with them via mobile, too.

Book a demo with Engagdely to learn how it can improve mental health in your workplace.

For more ideas on practical steps to improve mental health at work, explore these workplace mental health initiatives that can drive real impact and foster a healthier, more engaged workforce.

FAQs

1. What can you do as a leader to improve mental health in your workplace? 

As a leader, you can be a role model for everyone working beside you and for you. You can practice and promote maintaining work-life balance and create a safe work environment where employees can reach out for help when they need it.

2. Where should I focus my initial efforts to improve mental health in the workplace?

Team leads, and managers generally interact with the most employees. Your initial efforts should focus on equipping them with the skills to detect and deal with mental health problems.

3. How do I know that my mental health initiatives are working?

Regular check-ins and surveys are a great way to gauge the overall atmosphere in the workplace. You can also take advantage of Engagedly’s analytics features to track individual and team productivity over time to determine whether your mental health initiatives impact team morale and productivity.

 

Employee Mental Health : Ways To Support Your Team

Managers often tend to ignore and sideline mental health issues while discussing workplace problems. While managers commonly talk about other issues such as work-life balance, workplace bias, bullying, etc., mental health is one topic that gets completely ignored in most organizations. 

Did you know that 1 in 6.8 people experience mental health problems in the workplace?

The above numbers have in fact increased over the past year due to the pandemic. Continuous remote working has taken a toll on the mental health of employees. Reports of anxiety, depression, isolation, stress, and fatigue have increased. It has resulted in increased absenteeism, reduced productivity, disengagement, and burnout.

Also Read: Employee Wellbeing And Absenteeism At Work

It is high time organizations recognize the importance of mental health issues and help build a conducive and supportive environment for employees.

Here are some ways in which organizations can help.

Spread Awareness About Mental Health

The first step to solving any problem always begins with awareness. This could be through the form of workshops, seminars, conferences, etc. held by certified mental health professionals. They can help spread awareness about mental health and de-stigmatize the problem.

Spread awareness about common mental health problems like depression, anxiety, social phobia, etc. Encourage your employees to come forward and open up about their mental issues, so that you can help them overcome their issues.

Don’t Treat It As A Taboo

Why do some employees struggle with having good mental health? There are many reasons, but one of the main reasons is not opening up about it to anyone. Many people shy away from expressing the mental issues that they are battling daily.

Create a culture that encourages employees to open up about it.

Also Read: The Impact of Employee Engagement On Productivity

Identify Changes In Your Employees’ Behaviour

Not all employees who have mental issues can come forward and talk about their problems. Sometimes, as a manager, you need to go the extra mile and look for changes in the behavior of your team members.

Common symptoms that you can look for are irritability, depression, withdrawal from contact with others, loss of motivation, mood swings, etc. If you find someone from your team displaying these behaviors, it is time for you to have a conversation about their mental health issues.

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Connect With Your Employees

Once you realize that a team member has changed their behavior or is exhibiting symptoms of mental health issues, it is best to have a conversation about it. Do not make assumptions before having the conversation; remember that your impression can be wrong too.

Connect with them over informal or formal sessions and talk with them and give them support. Ask them simple questions and encourage them to share what triggers their problem more. Also, give them frequent feedback on how they work and they can improve. It will keep them engaged and busy at work.

Sometimes, people battling mental health issues just want someone to hear out what they have to say, so listen to them without judging or giving out opinions instantly.

Supportive Work Culture

A supportive work environment practices healthy communication and does not engage in toxic or harmful behavior. It shouldn’t make employees feel stressed. A distinction has to be made between job-related stressors and environmental stressors. Stress is a part and parcel of any job, and employees understand that on certain occasions, they might experience stressful situations. However, when these stressful situations frequently affect their ability to do their job or impact their ability to function, that is when it becomes a problem. Consequently, organizations need to be observant of the environment in which their employees work. 

Also Read: 7 Signs To Help You Recognize A Toxic Workplace

Creating a healthy workplace environment might necessitate organizations completely overhauling their workplace policies to be more inclusive. While this task might seem painful, it will go a long way toward creating a workplace that employees want to be a part of.

Design Policies Around Mental Health

Oftentimes, organizations have health policies but they might be cursory health policies or focus more on physical health. One way organizations can be more inclusive and supportive is to revamp their policies. It should cover all aspects of health and wellness. This includes creating provisions for employees with disabilities or employees with mental health problems. Also, adding or offering resources (through the employee assistance programs) that they can use to seek help. It is also important that employees be aware of these policies and use them when they need it. Having a good policy but not being able to use it renders the policy useless. It also prevents employees from seeking the health and care they need.

Leadership Support 

Employee wellness initiatives cannot move forward or even function successfully if they do not have the enthusiastic support of leaders and managers at an organization. It will not only lend more weight to mental health initiatives but will reassure employees that their well-being is important to organizations.

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How To Monitor Mental Health At Your Workplace?

When we talk about workplace issues, many common problems like work-life balance, workplace bias and bullying come to our minds; but there is a less spoken issue which needs our focus right now : Mental health.

Continue reading “How To Monitor Mental Health At Your Workplace?”