Linda Lewis-Daly is a workplace wellness program consultant at Goodlife Fitness. (Submitted)
It’s time to talk about mental health in the workplace.
Recent figures show that 70 per cent of Canadians report that work affects their mental health, and 78 per cent say they often miss work because of it.
Linda Lewis-Daly, a workplace wellness consultant for Goodlife Fitness, says stigma prevents a lot of people from talking about it.
“I’m not surprised really,” she said in an interview.
“We’re not always comfortable talking about our mental health, hence the resounding stigma that we hear about—people being afraid to come forward when they have a mental health problem developing or if they have a diagnosed mental health illness.”
More and more employees are seeing the toll their jobs can take on their mental health, and are starting to ask for help.
Lewis-Daly says younger generations want their managers to be actively involved in their mental well-being.
She says one way to do this is to have managers and employers check in more, and ask lots of questions.
“‘How are you doing today and how are you coping with this workload?’ Because when the employee feels that you’re actually concerned about them and you’re not judging them, they’re more apt to speak their truth,” she said.
There are a variety of ways employers can help make the workplace better, explains Lewis-Daly. Coming from places of “care and concern” and “trust and respect” are vital.
“Equipping our managers with the knowledge of what workplace supports there are for the employee. Do we have an employee assistance program? Do we have a wellness program? Who are some key contact people that they might reach out to?”
She says education and training is important too; not just on stress management, but resiliency. For example, Lewis-Daly says at Goodlife, they are rolling out mental health first aid training to their managers.
Despite the numbers, she says she is slowly but surely seeing the needle move on stigma, and seeing more open conversations in workplaces.
“I think initiatives like Bell Let’s Talk Day and some of the national campaigns are encouraging employers and employees to have those conversations.”
