Encourage employees to name their feelings — both anonymously and in team settings. EAPs often go unused because employees don’t understand what they cover or how to access them. Your company’s health and safety guidelines can help develop processes for addressing prevention, early identification, support and rehabilitation for distress, burnout, substance abuse and other mental health concerns.
Outcomes Measurement
When we are stressed, it can seem even harder to take the breaks we are entitled to – when we need them most. Check out our guide on sleep and mental health. Without good sleep, our mental health suffers and our concentration goes downhill. A change of scene or a change of pace is good for your mental health. These services are confidential and can be accessed free and without work finding out. We all sometimes overwhelmed by how we feel or when things don’t go to plan.
A culture of empathy, understanding, and support can ultimately benefit the entire workplace community. It’s essential to recognize the diverse range of conditions that employees may face, including anxiety disorders, depression, bipolar disorder, ADHD, https://3cisd.com/how-motivational-interviewing-supports-behavior-change/ PTSD, and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The surgeon general champions workplaces as “engines for mental health and well-being,” which is how the Well-being Works Better Scorecard assesses them as well. “When the mental health of workers suffers, so do workplace productivity, creativity and retention,” said Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murphy. The week aims to tackle stigma and help people understand and prioritise their own and other people’s mental health.
- Without good sleep, our mental health suffers and our concentration goes downhill.
- Wellness Action Plans are also particularly helpful during a return-to-work process as they provide a structure for conversations around what support and/or reasonable adjustments might be useful.
- Increasingly, companies are turning to mobile apps that focus on training mindfulness, enhancing cognitive performance, and addressing work-related stressors.56 E-health interventions have been observed to be targeted, guided, and present a low risk of bias in addressing depression and anxiety symptoms.
- Mature training efforts are designed to support an organization’s mental health strategy and are delivered on an ongoing basis using materials that are developed by experts and updated regularly.
Support across the employee lifecycle
Promoting good health and wellbeing is a core element of providing good work and improving working lives. Workers experiencing burnout may be less engaged at work and choose to leave their job or their profession altogether. Burnout can also impact employee retention. Workers with burnout are more likely to experience mental health conditions like anxiety and depression.
Sign up now to become a Mental Health Awareness Week 2026 supporter
Mental health and physical health are closely linked, and effective workplace health promotion and wellness programs address both. Efforts to promote work–life harmony can increase job satisfaction and productivity, strengthen commitment to the organization, and reduce absenteeism and turnover (117–119). Conflict between work and non-work demands can negatively affect worker well-being on and off the job and impair workers’ functioning both at home and at work (108–112). Employers should periodically review and take steps to improve mental health benefits and resources based on outcomes, utilization, and stakeholder input.
