Is there a place for suicide prevention in the workplace?
Employers are a critical front-line defense for workers dealing with anything from stress to a debilitating mental health condition.
Recent coverage by The Washington Post cited data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics pointing to an 11 percent uptick in the rate of suicides in the workplace. Given the increased attention to the growing demands on employees in today’s always-on, technology-enabled work mentality, these numbers do not come as a complete shock. What’s more surprising is that many American employers simply aren’t fully considering their role in suicide prevention.
Employers — not just health care plans and providers — are a critical front-line defense for at-risk workers who may deal with anything from work-related stress to a debilitating mental health condition. And while more companies are adopting employee mental health programs and technologies, the question remains whether they’re selecting the right ones.
Related: What every HR exec needs to know about suicide in the workplace
As organizations consider the mental health challenges facing their workforce, they are being force-fed a variety of emerging approaches that are supposed to be fast fixes. Whether it’s a new tech-based program focused on meditation or access to a clinician via text, many app-based approaches lack evidence and data to prove that they help people effectively manage serious mental health issues — including suicidality.
Investing in evidence-based mental health care
To act as a first line of defense, employers must consider evidence-based approaches to support their employees’ mental health. Research shows that evidence-based therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) can reduce suicidal ideation. Lyra Health’s own review of 233 clients who reported suicidality at baseline over the course of a year supports this. With evidence-based treatment, more than 70 percent of those treated experienced clinical improvement in their depression symptoms and had no suicidal ideation at follow-up. Unfortunately, many employers don’t even know what evidence-based mental health care is and/or how to find it and offer it to employees.
More specifically, evidence-based therapies (EBTs) are those that have been rigorously tested in randomized controlled trials or a series of case studies and proven effective or superior to existing treatments. Some examples of EBTs include cognitive behavioral therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, and behavioral activation. These empirically supported treatments represent the best opportunity to help most people with behavioral health problems.
Recently, our own clinicians surveyed several hundred therapy providers in a major health insurance network. The study revealed an alarming number of providers who are failing to provide evidence-based care. The fact that many therapy providers within this major health care network were found to not be practicing EBTs is worrisome. What’s more, the same study found that many in-network therapists were instead practicing therapies that are not backed by evidence — and worse — that may actually harm clients. Some examples of psychotherapies that researchers have identified as potentially harmful include Jungian sandplay therapy, thought field therapy, and past life therapy.
Suffice it to say, as employers consider new options for supporting their workforce’s mental health care, evidence-based therapies must be a top priority.
Offering personalized, specialized mental health care drives impact
To further support suicide prevention efforts, employers should consider the advantages of extending personalized and specialized mental health benefits not only to employees, but also to their dependents. Mental health issues plague far more people than employers may realize — including children.
According to another recent Washington Post article, teen suicides have increased at an alarming pace — surpassing all other age groups. From 2007 to 2017, the suicide rate among people ages 10 to 24 rose 56 percent, the article states. In fact, suicide has become the second-most common cause of death among teens and young adults.
This disturbing trend is further reinforced by a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that revealed a 30 percent increase in suicides in the U.S. across all age groups between 2000 and 2016. These collective findings indicate a clear and urgent need for employers to extend mental health benefits not only to employees, but also to their children. More so, mental health care should be both personalized and specialized for children in order to drive meaningful improvement.
Lastly, employers must realize that addressing mental health in the workplace is not a one-and-done approach. It takes time, energy, creativity, and a truly holistic approach to implement a mental health program that meets the needs of a diverse workforce. Things like manager training, a culture of openness around mental health, and benefits that reduce stress such as paid family leave must be considered as part of an overarching mental health program aimed at supporting the most at-risk employees — as well as those dealing with shorter-term mental health issues.
While there are well-documented financial benefits to employers providing mental health benefits, the human benefits — such as improved quality of life for employees and their families, not to mention lives saved — are incalculable. As any good business leader knows, people are a company’s greatest asset. Together, employers, health care leaders, and mental health advocates can work to halt the growing epidemic of suicides and other serious mental health challenges our nation faces.
Connie Chen is chief medical officer at Lyra Health, a flagship mental health benefits provider serving companies like uber, Genentech, and eBay.
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