I Have Mental Health Issues, Help Me

Many people are being open about mental health issues nowadays. However, the stigma against people suffering from mental illnesses still exists, especially in the workplace. Some employees with mental health issues still feel uncomfortable talking about their condition to their immediate supervisors or their colleagues. Applicants who happen to be diagnosed with mental illness usually take care not to mention anything about their diagnosis in their job interviews. All these are because of the fear of being judged as not fit for work, even when they actually are.

With the rise in cases of depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses worldwide, employers should prioritize their employees’ wellbeing. Some instances of employees’ failure to meet what is expected of them at work are caused by mental illness or a risk of having such. Whenever employees’ mental health suffers, their performance does, too, and it affects the success of the whole company.

Warning Signs

Employers should watch out for the following signs of mental illness, or a risk of it, in their employees. Take note that these may also be characteristics of stress, which could lead to a full-blown mental disorder if not addressed.

Tardiness and/or Absenteeism

Just because employees are habitually tardy or absent, does not necessarily mean that they are lazy. Their mental health condition might be affecting their motivation to go to work. Employees struggling with mental disorders, especially depression, lose most, if not all, of their motivation to do the things they usually do, especially work.

Reduced Productivity

Like the first sign, some employers and managers blame employees’ “presenteeism” or reduced productivity on laziness or incapacity to handle workloads and manage deadlines. If employees find it hard to meet the daily quota or to meet deadlines almost every day, even after coaching sessions, they might be at risk ofdealing with, mental illness.

Disorganization

Some employees can be “pantsers”, or do things by impulse. But if employees who are usually organized suddenly find it hard to prioritize tasks and manage their workload, it could be a sign of stress. If unaddressed, stress can cause employees mental illness in the long run.

Fatigue

Fatigue can be more than just physical exhaustion. In cases of employees struggling with mental disorders, fatigue can be a psychosomatic symptom, or a symptom resulting from psychological, rather than physiological, causes. This happens usually among employees with anxiety disorders or depression.

Difficulty Concentrating

Like disorganization, difficulty in concentrating on tasks is characteristic of employees who might be suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). They jump from one task to another without finishing anything.

Panic Attacks

Employees with anxiety or panic disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may have panic attacks at work, especially when things get tough in the office. Signs of a panic attack are palpitations, cold sweat, and nervous breakdowns.

Mood Swings and Outbursts

If an employee’s temperament changes fast from time to time, it can be a sign of a mood disorder, especially bipolar disorder or depression, or borderline personality disorder (BPD). Mentally ill employees may also have emotional outbursts at work, which does not necessarily mean that they are being unprofessional.

Anxiety, Nervousness, and Lack of Confidence

Some employees can be really shy, but some of them might be too nervous or have low self-esteem due to an inferiority complex, depression, or anxiety disorders. Some may also isolate themselves and refrain from participating in meetings or employees’ social activities like teambuilding.

Job Hopping

Some employees have spotty resumes, and they are usually stigmatized as impulsive and unstable, not knowing what to do with their lives. Others, though, may be at risk of or suffering from a borderline personality disorder, where they may initially enjoy their jobs for the first few months and grow disillusioned and even paranoid of their colleagues and higher-ups later on.

How Employers Can Help

Although employers keep out of their employees’ personal lives as much as possible, it is best for them to get involved with their employees’ mental health. After all, employees spend most of their time in the workplace, making it almost their second home. Active involvement of managers and supervisors in their employees’ mental health does not only help protect the company’s interests but also those of its most important asset: their employees.

Encourage Openness

Employers should be more open and understanding in discussing mental health issues, or even personal or work-related problems that may lead to an employee having a mental health problem if not resolved. This way, they encourage employees to do the same. Some companies even have free counseling services for their employees. Employers and office clinic personnel—even colleagues—may also refer a struggling employee to a professional counselor or therapist or psychiatrist if needed.

Attend or Organize Stress Management and Mental Health Workshops

To help educate themselves and their employees in turn, employers are encouraged to attend seminars on stress management and mental health. They can also have such events organized for their company. This will help companies learn about different mental disorders and how to deal with these when affected employees are manifesting symptoms of these illnesses.

Allow Employees to Take Days Off for Mental Health Reasons

Since health does not only concern the body but also the mind and heart, it’d be advisable for employers to let their employees, affected by mental illness or not, use their vacation or sick leave credits to take a break, especially after peak seasons at work.

Let Employees Mentally Log Out after Office Hours

As much as possible, employers should refrain from contacting employees for work-related things after office hours. This will help employees and the employers themselves to focus on friends, family, self-care, and other hobbies, if any, after work and on days off.

Foster a Positive Work Culture

Above all, employers should initiate formulating and implementing policies that would ensure the mental health of everyone in the company. This will encourage empathy among employees and their higher-ups and also help stop toxic workplace practices like labeling (e.g., calling people with mental illness “baliw (crazy),” or dismissing them as “too emotional”, “immature” or “childlike”, etc.), gossip-mongering, unhealthy competition among employees, and harassment.

Some employees might consider their jobs a refuge against problems at home or in themselves, rather than just a source of income. That’s why employers should help make the workplace a place where employees can find support and encouragement, even fun and a sense of purpose, that they might not be able to find elsewhere—regardless of whether they suffer from mental illnesses or not. If health is wealth, then mental health certainly is, too, for both employers and employees.

Note: This article was initially published in Issue No. 17 of The Corporate Magazine