mental health in the workplace

Mental Health in the Workplace and Beyond

Our guest author this week is Cameron Keller, a Professional Certified Coach with the International Coach Federation, and Principal at Kaleidoscope Training and Consulting.

Just a couple of weeks ago as I was part way through delivering a workshop on mental health in the workplace, a gentleman pulled me aside at a break to tell me his story. His mental health had become so poor that he had been having frequent thoughts of self-harm and suicide. The story was like far too many stories these days – stories that are becoming more frequent, more severe, and more troubling.

In my world, as an executive coach and business consultant I have come to realize that poor and declining mental health in the workplace is becoming the norm amongst entrepreneurs and executives, and then all the way down the line in organizations.

I originally trained as a mental health professional, earning a graduate degree in counseling/psychology in the 1990s. When I retired from the executive world nine years ago and started coaching and consulting, I had no idea that my mental health training would dovetail so critically with my coach training in serving my clients.

I am starting to believe that our industry should require a certain minimum training in mental health. Fellow coaches out there simply must be able to speak the language of mental health, understand signs and symptoms, recognize that stigma and other things become barriers to care, and recognize that recovery is possible.

We have too many leaders living with high levels of anxiety, utilizing substances, and navigating through pain, loss and loneliness in their personal lives that negatively impact their abilities to perform at the highest possible level at work.

I have been saying for years now that once someone has been on my coaching roster for a handful of months and we develop a deeply trusting relationship, the topic of mental health almost always emerges in some form. I estimate that approximately 70% of all coaching topics that my clients bring to me on a weekly basis have direct links to their own mental health. If not their own mental health, it’ll frequently be about the mental health of a key colleague or a family member. Because things happen in the context of a system, the indirect impact in a family or workplace of someone else working through a mental health challenge can be significant.

Canada was in a mental health crisis long before the pandemic. The impact on the workplace of increased absenteeism, presenteeism, and turnover has been huge. Now, just recruiting people to the workplace is a challenge due to the labour market.

I have become a true believer that employers that pay attention to workers’ mental health and wellness will become the employers of choice. And the good news is that there is a lot that an employer can do to promote mental health in the workplace. I am fortunate enough to work with a few CEOs and senior leaders that are investing in meaningful ways in their teams’ mental health.

What about the impact of the pandemic? It’ll be a long time before we’ll really know, but a recent news release from the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) about the mental health of physicians and health learners is worth looking at as I expect there are a lot of cross-industry similarities.:

  • 60% of physicians and residents indicate that their mental health has worsened since the onset of the pandemic
     
  • Nearly half of respondents (48%) screen positive for depression, up significantly since 2017 (34%)
     
  • One-quarter (25%) of physicians and residents experience severe (10%) or moderate (15%) anxiety
     
  • More than half of physicians and medical learners (53%) experience high levels of burnout
     
  • Nearly half (49%) of respondents are considering reducing their clinical work in the next 24 months 
  • More than one-third (36%) of respondents have had thoughts of suicide at some point in their lives, and 14% have had thoughts of suicide in the last 12 months
     
  • Moral distress is pronounced among physicians and medical learners, with one in five saying they have felt it “very often” or “always,” and a further 33% saying “sometimes,” since the start of the pandemic
     
  • Nearly half of physicians (47%) report low levels of social well-being — feeling that you have something important to contribute to society, for example, or have a sense of belonging in a community — a proportion that has significantly increased from the 2017 survey (31%)
     
  • Eight in 10 (79%) physicians and medical learners score low on professional fulfillment; less than six in 10 physicians and medical learners indicate being satisfied with their career in medicine

Again, this is just from one profession, but it does paint a picture. We know that approximately 50% of Canadians will experience a mental health issue in any given year. And, by that, I am not talking about the Monday Morning Blues. I am talking about something that is having a significant impact on the individual’s ability to perform well in one or more important areas of life. This stuff is real and has touched every person reading this article, directly or indirectly.

Supporting mental health in the workplace

First, if you are reading this and you know you are not doing well in your mental health, the first step is to speak up.

Speak at the very least to a friend or family member who you can trust. You should also contact a professional – your GP is one place to start, or contact a Registered Clinical Counsellor, Registered Marriage and Family Therapist, Registered Social Worker, or a Registered Psychologist. It’s important to understand that “it is okay not to be okay…” however, it’s not okay to do nothing about it

Second, if you are a business leader responsible for others, make a commitment to talking about mental health at a team meeting. It is important to remind people they are not alone and that help is available. Everyone deals with some challenges associated with mental health. Speak with your fellow leaders and determine some meaningful steps you can take in discussing mental health in the workplace and supporting your staff to access mental health support. You may consider bringing in a professional to do some training that will help individuals in the workplace have open conversations about mental health, without the stigma.

Keep in mind that Mental Illness Awareness Week is October 2 – 9, 2022 here in Canada. You could use this important opportunity to launch an awareness campaign at your workplace to promote conversations on the important topic of mental health and mental health awareness!

Cameron Keller is an Executive Coach and Consultant specializing in business growth and creating psychologically healthy workplaces. He has walked the walk of the executive world himself and knows what it’s like to carry large-scale responsibility for national initiatives. Cameron is recognized nationally for a number of significant achievements including the implementation of Canada’s first-ever Mental Health Strategy, the implementation of numerous national workplace mental health training initiatives, and the implementation of Canada’s National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace. He weaves in topics of mental health and wellness in his work with individuals who want to perform at the highest level possible in business and leadership.

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