Mental Health in the Workplace

No Need for it to be the Elephant in the Room

Here are some quotes from Dave Gallson, the Associate National Executive Director for the Mood Disorders Society of Canada, from an interview I did with him for newz4u.net:

“The Statistics Canada report indicating a rise of those reporting a diagnosed mood disorder shows that the work being done across Canada at promoting and encouraging people who are touched by mental health issues to reach out is beginning to work. However, with 10.4% of Canadians at any one time having a mental illness means that approximately 1.4 million Canadians are suffering in silence at any one time. These are huge numbers of people who are not obtaining the help they need.

“MDSC is working with numerous corporations on different projects that assist persons with mental illness and their families. For example, our National Executive Director, Phil Upshall is a Trustee on the Canada Post Foundation for Mental Health. This Foundation provides money for projects designed to have an impact right at the front-line, helping people cope with and overcome mental illness. We have not as yet had the privilege of work specifically with Bell, however we have a meeting scheduled in the very near future.

“MDSC is a progressive and inclusive organization which is very interested in improving mental health in the workplace. We have a deep concern that too many workplaces are not adequately addressing mental health, not creating healthy environments and not providing training and supports for both staff and management as is needed.

“Consequently, we are seeing such evidence as the recently released report from CAMH that the actual cost of mental health leave on average is double the cost of a leave for a physical illness. The study, published in the Journal of Environmental Medicine, looked at data tracking the short-term disability leave of 33,913 full-time employees in Ontario. Results showed that the cost to a company for a single employee on a short-term disability leave due to mental health concerns totals nearly $18,000. Mental illness is associated with more lost work days than any other chronic condition, costing the Canadian economy $51 billion annually in lost productivity. The MDSC is looking at developing targeted programs for employers and is currently looking for companies who would like to support our organization in order to develop and share these resources.”

He also provided me with an excellent link for employers to use for establishing a mental health in the workplace program: http://www.mooddisorderscanada.ca/page/workplace

Also, a Facebook mental health in the workplace page which can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_178042798876193&ap=1

Happy New Year, everybody!

Patrick Connors