The Stepped Care Approach to Mental Health: How to build digital tools to tackle workplace stigma
Each year, depression and anxiety cost an estimated $1 trillion in productivity losses.1 For employers, these impacts are tangible: employees struggling with mental health have higher rates of absenteeism, presenteeism (the lost productivity when a worker can’t function at full capacity), and turnover. In other words, employees with major depressive disorder cost an average of 33.4% of their annual salary in lost productivity.2
Many employers have responded by expanding access to their mental health benefits. But access isn’t the only obstacle: many employees dealing with mental health concerns are unable to recognize the benefits of support. And some are simply unwilling to seek it.
In our current landscape, employers are challenged to seamlessly embed mental health support into their organizational culture. Digital mental health services could help.
Overcoming the barrier of mental health stigma
To understand why many employees are hesitant to seek help, employers must understand how decisions about mental health are impaired by social stigma.
Identifying oneself, or being identified by others, as ‘mentally-ill’ attaches a host of socially prescribed negative character assumptions that are often incorrect. As a result, many employees choose to not disclose mental health issues – 39% of employees in a 2016 study said they wouldn’t tell a manager if they were struggling.3
Self-stigmatization can prevent reaching out
Employees struggling with mental health are often unable to identify themselves as such due to the negative implications of stigma for their self-image. And if they do identify as mentally-ill, it is not only their decision-making that suffers but their performance as well. Self-stigmatization occurs when individuals internalize their negative beliefs about mental illness, resulting in self-limiting behaviors and attitudes that hamper productivity.
How employers can tackle workplace stigma
- One solution is for employers to explicitly promote awareness and acceptance of mental health, as a way to signal that it’s okay to seek support.
- Another, more subtle, route is treating mental health as an organizational problem, not a personal one. This approach provides more extensive mental health support that is seamlessly integrated into the daily practices of an organization.
References
- World Health Organization. Mental health in the workplace. Retrieved Mar 4th, 2022 from https://www.who.int/teams/mental-health-and-substance-use/promotion-prevention/mental-health-in-the-workplace
- Woo, J. M., Kim, W., Hwang, T. Y., Frick, K. D., Choi, B. H., Seo, Y. J., ... & Park, Y. L. (2011). Impact of depression on work productivity and its improvement after outpatient treatment with antidepressants. Value in Health, 14(4), 475-482.
- Boak et al., (2016). The mental health and well-being of Ontario students, 1991-2015: Detailed OSDUHS findings. CAMH Research Document Series no. 43. Toronto: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
About the Authors
Ryan McPhedrain
Ryan is currently pursing his PhD in neuroscience at McGill University, focusing on the molecular and cellular mechanisms of neural plasticity in the developing brain. His main interest is in applying behavioural frameworks to guide interventions that enhance mental health and wellbeing. A staunch advocate for data-driven solutions, he seeks to leverage data science and machine learning tools to improve behavioural outcomes in digital health and finance. He has also participated in McGill-affiliated science outreach campaigns, giving presentations on neuroscience topics for high school students and answering publicly-sourced neuroscience questions. In his spare time, Ryan can be found enjoying a good book, playing various sports like hockey, volleyball and tennis, or simply getting lost in nature.
Marielle Montenegro
Marielle Montenegro has a background in behavioural neuroscience from McGill University. Her prior experience ranges from projects in behavioural finance to health, where she was responsible for designing programs that unlocked barriers to medication adherence, curating behaviourally guided content for financial planners and informing policy to improve access to and perceptions of mental health services in University. Prior to working at The Decision Lab, she was based in Johannesburg working as a Behavioural Policy Analyst, where she designed impact measurement framework to assess the effectiveness of telecommunication policies on access to communications in rural communicates.
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