Just a quarter of mental health experts believe employees can speak openly 

Michael Cronin from Ballincollig was given 'incredible' support by his employer when he suffered a mental breakdown four years ago. Picture Larry Cummins

Just a quarter of mental health experts believe employees can speak openly about mental health issues, according to new international research carried out in eight countries.

The experts, from seven European countries including Ireland, as well as from Australia also found that four in five experts agree there is a significant unmet need for mental health supports in the workplace.

Their paper notes that an estimated 4.4% of the world’s population suffers from depression at any time and 3.6% from anxiety disorders. Mental illness is projected to have a global economic impact of $6 trillion (€5.9tn) by 2030, including healthcare, productivity and workplace absenteeism.

Despite being a major public health concern, there is a reported treatment gap for depression and anxiety, with many receiving no or inadequate treatment, the researchers said.

Sixty-five academic experts and business representatives completed a survey that sought to support the development of a workplace intervention to tackle depression, anxiety, and mental illness-related stigma within small- to medium-sized businesses.

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Just 26.2% of experts agreed that employees could speak openly about mental health issues.

The research recommends awareness campaigns, workshops with people with lived experience of mental illness and guidelines for managers on methods of combatting mental health stigma in the workplace.

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) was consistently recommended as a useful method of intervention for employees struggling with their mental health.

The experts involved in the research said managers should be provided with information on how to cope with depression, anxiety or other mental health issues in employees. File picture

Managers should be provided with information on how to cope with depression, anxiety or other mental health issues in employees, the experts said. 

Included in the guidelines should be advice on supporting an employee’s return to work following a mental health-related absence. Just 37% of experts were confident that managers had the skills to manage such a return.

The paper concluded that return-to-work programmes are affected by the psychosocial working conditions at a company and often the best practice is not implemented for employees during this difficult period.

There was a large degree of consensus among experts on the need for mental health-related anti-stigma programmes and which strategies could best fulfil them. It was highlighted that stigma around mental illness causes employees to conceal mental illness and prevent interventions from occurring.

Most of the experts reported that there are few or no mental health-related activities addressing stigma in the workplace.

Stigma may also have a disproportional impact in hindering the uptake of mental health interventions in small and medium enterprises, where there may be no dedicated programme.

Face-to-face mental health workshops were also rated as more useful than online versions, and also received higher staff uptake.

Results from experts representing the three sectors of construction, health, and ICT sectors, were consistent with responses from the experts with more general expertise.

“The survey results demonstrate that experts, despite their diversity in terms of country and experience, largely come to a very similar assessment regarding a lack of current tools, materials and support for employees and managers to be able to cope with mental health difficulties in the workplace,” the paper concluded.

“Similarly, most experts agreed that employees often hide their mental health difficulties due to stigma, and that appropriate workplace-based anti-stigma programmes are needed.” 

The research was published recently by 23 academics and members of mental health promotion and intervention in occupational settings (MENTUPP) in Nature Public Health Emergency Collection.

The research was conducted in Ireland, Albania, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Kosovo, Spain, the Netherlands and Australia.

Case study: 'My boss was incredibly supportive'

Michael Cronin: 'Anything I needed; the company was there.' Picture: Larry Cummins

Just over four years ago, Ballincollig man Michael Cronin suffered a mental breakdown.

The coffee sales rep ended up in psychiatric hospital and was out from work for six weeks.

While nothing can prepare a family for this, fortunately for Michael, his employer did more than enough to make sure he was okay.

“My boss was incredibly supportive,” Michael said. “Anything I needed, the company was there. He was there personally for me and my family.” 

His boss told Michael there was “absolutely no rush” coming back to work and he was to “come back to work on [his own] terms".

“It made a huge difference,” he said. 

“It was one less thing I had to worry about. 

I was in my mid-40s at the time with two teenage daughters and a mortgage. I had the same money worries as everybody else. 

“Not to have to worry about [work] was incredible and it definitely made me getting better a lot easier.” 

He said most bosses would allow staff to take plenty of time out if they were dealing with cancer, and it shouldn’t be any different for your mental health.

“You spend most of your day working and if you’ve been diagnosed with anxiety, depression or you’ve had a mental breakdown, you’re obviously trying to come to terms with a lot of stuff.

“If you don’t need to worry about one of the most important things in your life, which is your job, then it makes your recovery much better and quicker.

“The last thing anybody needs is to go back to work too early.”