Why Aren’t More Employees Seeking Mental Health Support Offered by Their Employer?

There are several reasons behind why an employee may choose to refrain from seeking mental health support within the confines of their place of employment. The matter of mental health is not only a delicate one but complex in nature.

Becoming aware of the realities surrounding mental health support is crucial if we are to get to the root of resistance and not mask the symptoms of the issue.

For starters:

You can’t force people to participate in what they feel won’t benefit their lives.

You can’t force people to seek support if the process of getting support makes them feel broken.

You can’t expect people will speak up if they feel they will be penalised more than supported.

The question then becomes ‘how might we create an environment where our people are better off in their lifespan because they speak up?’

The answer to this question is less about the bells and whistles of what we provide to our employees and more about breaking the stigmas, attitudes and behaviours, that reinforce a culture of ill-health.

When preparing to offer mental health support to employees, we must recognise these three areas.

Values and Beliefs

Modern-day challenges when addressing mental health stem from centuries of suppression with a looming stigma embedded in core operating values and beliefs. Many of which have grown the world’s most powerful corporations in the world. In acknowledging and challenging the values and beliefs that maintain a system of ill-health, including burnout, anxiety, depression, harassment, and inequality, we get closer to putting people’s mental health first.

Think it out: Would it be unreasonable to say that the way success was motivated in the last 100 years would be met with some level of resistance today when seeking mental health support? Would it be safe to say, employees may not be fully convinced they are free to put their mental health first without the scrutiny of being labelled, judged or feeling broken when we celebrate behaviour and cultures that incentivise burnout?

Language Used

Seeking mental health care vs seeking mental help. Why would it matter that someone is more inclined to seek care over help? If it is help that people require, should the language change the outcome of the support?

The answer is that it matters a great deal.

The language we use to offer support for mental health matters. It matters because mental health isn’t without societal and cultural stigma, even in 2021. For generations, we’ve glorified the grit of hard work at the expense of sleep, mental breaks, nutrition and family.

Admitting the need for help or daring to ask for it is often perceived as not being up-to-the-task, organised or fully present. For many people, this poses a mental toll that their place in the workplace may be less valued. The very ideas that bottleneck employees from seeking mental support when they need it most.

Employers seeking to streamline meaningful mental health initiatives and build a culture of care must analyse the stigma and resistances that have cemented before and pose a conflict for future change.

It may also be tempting to assume the real work then lies in reshaping our perception of asking for ‘help.’ While this may appear straightforward enough, the reality remains, putting our employees in a position of asking for help does not work if we are not embedding a culture that permits them to care for themselves in the first place.

Silencing Culture

Employees have long endured environments that silence their discomfort. However, silencing cultures have become more prevalent following months of exhaustion and demands since the World Health Organisation sounded the alarm of a global pandemic.

Unfortunately, many big tech corporations, retail giants and national healthcare systems struggle to get this right after many employees continue to feel the burn.

Companies that exhibit a culture of silencing will undoubtedly face disturbingly high statistics on mental health issues. The lack of transparency over information, listening, investigating and taking swift action that counters toxic behaviours and practices hinders progress on all levels.

To get in touch with the Writer, email nerissa@ignitethehumanspark.com