The past few years have seen a growing appreciation of the importance of mental health to our lives.  This has been exacerbated by the Covid crisis, with research from Durham University Business School illustrating the scale of the impact the pandemic has had on our mental health.

“It’s true that many workers encountered new demands on their time, such as needing to learn new tech like Zoom or navigating makeshift work procedures, and new financial demands as well as facing the loss of essential financial resources,” the researchers say. “However, the shift created a series of trade-offs for most people. There were different constraints on the way people allocated their time, energy and money that did not necessarily lead to negative consequences.”

Lack of support

The impact of such mental health issues on our careers was illustrated by recent research from Cambridge University, which highlights the link between the availability of mental health services in society and the career earnings of individuals.

“Population data indicate that mental health disorders carry enormous social costs, with earnings penalties that range from 34 percent for a person with depression to 74 percent for a person with schizophrenia,” the researchers explain. “Risks of zero earning range from 110 percent for depression and BD to 336 percent for schizophrenia.”

The authors highlight the significant gap between those who need mental health support and those who receive it, citing data from the United States revealing that fewer than half get the treatment they need.

Career impact

They turned to Denmark to try and understand what impact this has on our careers.  In 1976, the country had a landmark moment when the Danish Medicines Agency approved lithium for the treatment of bipolar disorder.  This made the treatment widely available throughout the country’s healthcare system.

The researchers used data on the earnings of citizens alongside that of both their diagnosis and their prescriptions to determine whether access to lithium helped their career and to what extent it did so.

The results suggest that the availability of treatment significantly impacted the trajectory of people’s careers, with around a third of the earnings penalty nominally associated with bipolar disorder eliminated.  That meant that the risk of having no income fell by 33%, with the benefits particularly strong among those with the most severe instances of the disorder.

“The findings speak to the case of places like the U.S.”—those without universal healthcare—“because basically what the results are saying is that if mental health conditions go untreated, then the people who are going to suffer the most are the people who are already worse off now,” the researchers say.

Workplace stigma

Obviously, this study only looked at bipolar disorder, but the evidence for the ongoing stigma associated with mental health is sadly extremely strong. This is reflected in a study by Tilburg University in the Netherlands, which finds that 64% of managers would be reluctant to hire an applicant if they have identifiable mental health problems.

What’s more, around a third of managers would be reluctant to hire someone who has had mental health issues in the past, even if they’re no longer an issue.

The researchers wanted to explore how managers respond to employees who have had various mental health issues, including stress, anxiety, burnout, and depression.

Social inclusion

The researchers believe their findings have significant implications for social inclusion, both in the Netherlands and further afield.  They cite earlier research suggesting that 75% of employees actively choose to be open about any mental health problems they’re facing at work.

The findings are significant because the managers surveyed were not basing their biases on personal experience.  Indeed, just 7% of them had had a negative experience with an employee’s mental health, with 52% reporting positive personal experiences instead.

Despite this, nearly all of the managers in the survey revealed that they had at least one concern about hiring an employee with mental health problems.  These include not knowing how to help and concerns that the problems will harm the atmosphere in the workplace.

Frozen out

A report from Harvard Business School suggests that people with mental health issues, or a history of them, are part of the 27 million people who represent a “hidden workforce” who would be fully capable of productively participating in the labor market if only they were given the chance.

The authors highlight how this “hidden workforce” consists of a wide range of people, including people without a degree, those with a criminal conviction, military veterans, those with gaps in their work history, and someone who is not in employment, education, or training (NEET).

The Covid pandemic has shone a light on the challenges surrounding mental health at work.  Indeed, the Thriving at Work study highlights the scale of the challenge, with 15% of people typically having mental health issues at any given time. What’s more, recent data from Accenture revealed that 90% of UK workers have been touched by mental health in some way at work, with two-thirds (66 percent) reporting having personally experienced mental health challenges and even more — 85 percent — saying someone close to them such as a family member, close friend or colleague had experienced them.

Mental health first aid

To help organizations do better, a team from the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has developed guidance on so-called ‘mental health first aid’ (MHFA) in the workplace.  The guidance is designed to assist companies in the development of mental health support systems, with the goal of mental health first aid being seen on a par with physical first aid.

At the moment, MHFA is largely a volunteer effort, and the IOSH believe this carries risks, as they think it should form part of a much wider business approach to mental health.  They have divided their guidance into two forms:

• A benchmarking tool to help organizations assess and design their mental health systems and support.
• They have also produced an information sheet on the adoption and implementation of mental health first aid in the workplace.  The document covers some of the limitations of the MHFA role and how it can be integrated into wider systems of support.

“Mental health first aid and similar training courses are specific interventions that may be considered for managing mental wellbeing, but they don’t tackle the root cause of the issue,” the IOSH says. “IOSH calls for a ‘prevention first’ approach incorporating MHFA as part of an organization’s overall efforts to protect their workforce from mental health problems.”

They believe that most mental health problems at work stem from the culture and the way the organization functions, so it’s vital that a systemic approach is adopted that includes contributions from across the business.  Given the scale of the problem, it’s a change that really can’t come soon enough.

If we, as both a society and as organizations, are to make the most of the talent at our disposal, then making the most of people with mental health difficulties is going to be a vital part of that process.