5 Ways to Advocate for Your Mental Health at Work

Jun 15

Written By Dr. Zairys Feliz, Ph.D., LCSW

When you’re dealing with a tough work environment, what do you do? For many, the answer is to push their feelings aside at work and cope with the adverse effects once they get home. But this approach doesn’t work - we spend roughly a third of our lives at work. At some point, those feelings will catch up with you. And, if you’re dealing with mental health issues outside of work, they will undoubtedly follow you into the office.

To put it simply, advocating for your mental health in the workplace is critical for a healthy life. You spend the majority of your waking time at work, so making it a healthy environment is essential. Here’s how to do it.

Reflect on Your Needs

There are a ton of ways to push for a better work environment. The way that you advocate for mental health will likely depend on your organization, its existing policies and leadership, and your own role. Additionally, the relationships you have with leaders and your personal experiences with mental health will determine how you approach the subject.

That said, it’s important to know what your goal is with this endeavor. Take some time to journal about it. Write down what you’re currently struggling with. How does work affect your mental health? What specific instances have had impacts? Who are the key parties who played a role? Then, think about what you’d like to change. How can the expectations, circumstances, and policies better support you?

You can then organize this raw information into a document that guides your next steps. For example, if tight deadlines cause unnecessary stress and anxiety, you might write that you want a minimum of one week’s notice for all tasks. If five days in the office with a long commute make it impossible for you to balance your mental health outside of work, you might ask for a few days working remotely.

If you want to advocate for mental health on a larger scale, some big goals could be to:

● Request that leaders outline expectations and plans for ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) responsibilities.

● Request a budget to cover the cost of improving mental health at your organization.

● Regular communication from management about future policy changes around mental health.

Get Key Players Involved

Ultimately, the best way to advocate for your mental health is to communicate. Talk to your supervisor, manager, or HR department about how work impacts your mental health and what changes you’d like to see take shape.

You can also chat with your coworkers or your employees if you’re a manager. What are their mental health needs at work? Are they dealing with burnout and stress? Having group support can help you feel more confident when you bring this information to the leaders in your organization.

Start Small and Offer Solutions

Talking to your manager about mental health can feel daunting. Plus, if you’ve never brought it up before, you might worry about overwhelming them with too much information. You can take the pressure off by starting small.

Below are a few ideas of topics to bring up in casual conversation. As you dig into them, consider mentioning specific examples of how these topics have affected you at work.

● Work-life balance

● Burnout

● Stress management

● Deadline management

● Meeting frequency

● Task delegation

In each conversation, try to offer a solution. This is where you can turn to your list of needs and wants. For example, if you feel like your work-life balance is poor, tell your manager what actionable steps could improve it.

Share Your Story

Mental illness can feel extremely lonely, but the truth is that it’s common. More than 1 in 5 US adults has a mental illness. That means your coworkers and organization leaders are living with issues similar to your own. Sharing your own experience with mental health at work can be an effective way to grab attention and highlight the importance of the issue.

Of course, how much you share about your personal story is completely up to you. You may choose to share only specific details or none at all. You might discuss the topic with close coworkers or leaders. Do what feels right for you.

Highlight the Statistics

Discussing mental health can feel like a gray area. Mental impacts are hard to quantify, and emotions can feel obscure and hard to describe. Luckily, there are plenty of statistics on the correlation between mental health and work. Highlighting these facts for your employer can help them see the benefits of promoting a better work environment.

Here are a few to get you started:

● According to the World Health Organization, depression and anxiety cause a $1 trillion global loss due to productivity issues each year.

● A study from Harvard Business Review (HBR) showed that 84% of survey respondents reported at least one workplace factor that had a negative impact on their mental health.

● 52% of adults feel that their workplace doesn’t adequately support mental health needs.

● Employees who have depression often don’t seek treatment because they fear it will negatively impact their job or because their insurance won’t cover the costs, according to a study from Mental Health America.

● The highest cause of employee turnover is toxic work culture, per an MIT Sloan Management Review study.

● The HBR found that 50% of their employees left their jobs in 2021 due to mental health reasons.

● Per the HBR, employees who say that their company leaders advocate for mental health at work also experience higher job satisfaction and a stronger intention to stay at the company. They’re also less likely to miss work and underperform.

If you’re struggling to navigate your mental health, therapy can help. Talking with an unbiased professional can help you sort out your emotions, determine your needs, and create an action plan for meaningful change. Learn more here.

Sources

Dr. Zairys Feliz, Ph.D., LCSW is a clinical psychotherapist. Zairys provides individual, couples and sex therapy using evidence-based approaches. She specializes in treating individuals and couples who have relationship or sexual concerns. Read full bio

Dr. Zairys Feliz, Ph.D., LCSW http://www.bloomtherapy.online