One in four people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year, with depression affecting around three in every 100 people and anxiety approximately five in every 100 people.
This means that, at any one time, most employers will have members of their workforce suffering from mental ill-health issues. But, given the stigma that all too often still surrounds such conditions, I wonder how many employers are aware that this is the case in their organisation?
Of course, in many cases, this will not be due to a lack of awareness. Deep-rooted cultural fears about the potential ramifications of disclosing details of their condition to their employer may deter many employees from doing so, even if their perceived concerns would never come to fruition.
Thankfully, times have started to change and employees’ mental wellbeing is currently top of the corporate agenda in many organisations.
Recognition of the need for mental wellbeing support in the workplace has prompted a number of employers to take a fresh look at the support they offer. As a result, many now discuss the issue in terms of emotional resilience; that is the capacity with which an employee is able to bounce back following adversity and properly adapt to stress.
Forward-thinking employers have also taken this a step further, including spiritual resilience support in their employee wellbeing strategies (How employers can boost employees’ emotional resilience)
Last month, workplace mental health was the subject of the inaugural Employee Benefits Wired webinar, held in association with Legal and General and mental health charity Mind. In this live debate, a panel of experts discussed key issues, such as the steps employers can take to reduce the stigma attached to mental ill health; how employers can support psychological rehabilitation; and some of the best practice that can be seen around mental health management in the workplace.
If you missed it, the session is available to view on demand at: https://www.employeebenefits.co.uk/eb-tv/
Debbie Lovewell-Tuck
Editor
Follow on Twitter: @DebbieLovewell
