For people with lived experience of mental health problems, change processes can be especially stressful. 2350846, £225 billion per year, which represents 12.1% of the UK's total GDP, Supporting a person with ongoing mental health problems, Employer checklist for creating mentally healthy workplaces, Disability Discrimination Act (1995, as amended), Helping can make us feel needed and valued, Download how-to-support-mental-health-at-work.pdf, have an idea of how to manage your own mental health at work, have an idea of how to reach out to a colleague in distress. Someone suffering from depression will miss approximately five missed work days and 11.5 days of reduced productivity every three months. After reading this guide you should: Mental health is the way we think and feel and our ability to deal with ups and downs. Employees often stay quiet due to the stigma of mental illness and concern that co-workers or supervisors will think poorly of them. Changing a person’s working pattern to enable them to start later or finish earlier because of the side effects of medication, or allowing them to travel the night before meetings and stay over to avoid early morning travel. Helping can make us feel needed and valued, and that boosts our self-esteem. Volunteering can be hugely rewarding, and it helps us to see the world from another angle. This can help to put our own problems into perspective. Our Mental Health Champion course is a one-day awareness course that will give participants the knowledge and confidence to provide mental health first aid for the most common mental health issues. Give them a call a few days before they return to work and ask them if there’s anything you can do (maybe give their desk a tidy, agree to meet for coffee and walk in together, or go for lunch on the first day). You could try a lunch club at work – where you club together to share meals and try new things. Doing an activity you enjoy probably means you’re good at it, and achieving something boosts your self-esteem. Regular staff surveys and other research to build data about staff mental health, using findings to plan and deliver action and inform workplace policies. Our research shows that most people have some experience of a mental health problem,  and the latest large-scale survey in England suggested that one in six people experience the symptoms of a mental health problem in any given week. You can ask if there’s anything you can do to support a person to manage their condition. Make evidence based mental health promotion tools like mindfulness and exercise available to all staff. Employers have a vested interest in recognizing the importance of employee mental health and many are stepping up to act, as noted by Kari Paul in Workplaces are finally treating mental health as sick days, even on Broadway. What should an employer do? Make sure there is a ready supply of fruit/vegetables and snacks like nuts or trail mix that provides ready nutrients. What we eat can affect how we feel both immediately and in the longer term. Be proud of who you are. The last thing anyone needs is to feel rushed. Caring for others is often an important part of keeping up relationships with people close to you. Ensure your business creates opportunities to link with employability providers to enable people with mental health problems to join your workforce. Posted on May 13, 2019 in Mental Health. A few minutes can be enough to de-stress you. We all have times when life gets on top of us – sometimes that's work-related, like deadlines or travel. Work/Life Balance: Is That What Millennials Really Want? What Do Employers Need to Be Doing Now. Try to make physical activity that you enjoy a part of your day. According to the CDC, depression is estimated to cause 200 million lost workdays each year at a cost to employers of $17-$44 billion. One of the most effective ways to support employees with mental health conditions is taking advantage of your Employee Assistance Program (EAP). As a rule, you should seek help from your GP if you have difficult feelings that are: At work, we might notice that we are more tired than usual. When you are on leave or at home, resist the temptation to check in with work. You may want to arrange a time for a longer chat – either in work time if appropriate, or outside work. What do you love doing? Workplaces that support flexible working, carers' leave, childcare voucher schemes and other initiatives to support caring roles can have a big impact on staff mental health and productivity.