A managers' crucial role in combatting mental health stigma at work

Mental health issues on the rise and stigma endures in the workplace

The WHO states that stigma related to mental illness remains a barrier to the implementation of support at work or the uptake of existing support for people with mental illness.

The occurrence of mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety and other stress-related disorders has been on the rise worldwide and is showing few signs of slowing down. More than 1 in 6 individuals in the European Union have been reported to have had a mental health disorder.

Mental health disorders in the workplace cause a loss of societal and economic participation and poor public health outcomes. Mental health issues adversely affect an employee's capacity to work, diminish work performance, reduce motivation, learning and executive functioning. From an employer's perspective this is a big invisible cost and is associated with increased work absenteeism.

One of the ways managers can address mental health issues is by reducing stigma in the workplace. Stigma remains a major issue in public health that can lead to discriminatory behaviours and creates barriers in the workplace for employees.

Managers play a vital role in their employees' health concerns. As most employees spend much of their day at work, managers can be the first to notice mental health issues and are well positioned to influence employee work requirements, adjust work assignments, and provide supportive work accommodations when needed. However, stigmatising attitudes are less likely to result in action at work to prevent mental health issues.

A recent study highlights the workplace stigma faced by individuals dealing with common mental health issues like depression, anxiety, and stress-related disorders, and how managers play a pivotal role in reducing it.

Trained and informed managers can make a difference

The study surveyed over 3000 managers from various sectors to gauge their awareness and attitudes regarding employee depression. Results showed that managers were less likely to stigmatise depression if they had prior understanding gained through medical training or personal/professional experiences with mental health issues.

Some key findings include:

• Managers with specific knowledge, such as medical training on mental health disorders, were about twice as likely to report low stigma towards employee depression compared with managers without such training.
• Personal experiences with mental health disorders in patients, employees, relatives or own illness was significant in reducing stigma.
• Those with personal/professional experiences were found to display reduce stigma at about the same rate as those with medical training.

Whilst, personal experience can't be guaranteed, the value of training is always within reach. The findings suggest that targeted knowledge and understanding can help address workplace stigma surrounding mental health. The study recommends organizations invest in manager training and leverage experiential knowledge to enhance support for employees dealing with mental health challenges.

Online learning resources

Existing myosh users can take advantage of a range of available, ready-made courses that cover topics such as psychosocial wellbeing, and many more, integrated into a platform that keeps track of who should and who has completed required/desired training.

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Sources

Managers' mental health knowledge can help overcome stigma by NSCA Foundation, 28th March, 2024.

The significance of managers’ knowledge of common mental disorders on managerial stigma towards employee depression: a cross-sectional study in Sweden published by BMC Public Health, 5th February, 2024.

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