Mental health crisis worsens among U.S. workers despite increased awareness

The topic of mental health in the workplace has gained significant attention over the past several years as employers work to destigmatize discussions about mental health and help employees through benefits and programs designed to bolster wellness.

Yet according to data recently gathered by Wysa, many American employees remain at significant risk of suffering a mental health crisis, including thoughts of self-harm and suicidal ideation. Younger workers are particularly vulnerable to mental health challenges, with 35% of 18-24 year olds reporting recent thoughts of self-harm and suicide.

“While mental health crisis is not a new phenomenon among workers, it’s concerning to see rates of depression, anxiety and even suicidal thoughts increasing,” said Smriti Joshi, chief psychologist at Wysa. “In recent years we’ve seen some high profile stories on executives suffering from mental crises, but the reality is, these issues can impact anyone at any point in their careers.”

The independent survey of more than 2,000 employees across industry sectors found that employees feel ill-equipped to help their colleagues who are struggling with mental health challenges. Twelve percent reported they have experienced a colleague attempting or losing their life by suicide over the past year.

Other mental health challenges employees are dealing with include emotional distance from others (33%), a sense of isolation or withdrawal (29%), dwelling on the past (26%), a sense of distraction or lack of humor (25%) and a persistent feeling of hopelessness (23%). Despite an increased focus on the mental health crisis plaguing American workers, many employees are unwilling to approach their employers for help, with 38% saying they believe their employer sees mental health as a non-work issue. Employees also reported concerns that disclosing their mental health conditions would cause their manager to be more critical of their work or question their abilities, that they would miss opportunities for career advancement, or that their concerns would be ignored.

Even more concerning, 22% of workers said they have experienced a manager responding inappropriately to a colleague showing signs or symptoms of mental illness. More than one in three do not feel that leaders at their company communicate about mental health and 34% feel that their employer treats mental health as a “check box” exercise, rather than truly addressing it. 

Related: Employee mental health challenges remain after the pandemic, research finds

“It can be frustrating as managers and HR leaders because it feels like we are talking about and addressing these issues now more than ever before, so how can these metrics on mental health across the workforce be getting worse?” asked Joshi. “Unfortunately, what we see through the findings is that many workers don’t trust that management within their organizations actually want to help solve this problem. This is where it becomes critical that organizations show and not just tell when it comes to mental health. They need to earn the trust of employees by responding appropriately to signs or symptoms of mental illness, giving employees the room, resources and training to seek help and be ready to acknowledge that mental health is a work issue as much as a personal one.”