Since becoming part of the workforce, I’ve heard this question very often from job seekers:
“Do you have mental health benefits or support?”
The answer is quite simple, you’d think. If you are an employer, you would say one of two things:
- Yes, we do. We are supportive of everyone and anyone who needs mental health support, just as we do for those who have physical ailments. or;
- Not at the moment, but we are working on getting such benefits to support those who may need it. We fully acknowledge that addressing mental health illnesses are just as important as physical illnesses.
You hear this a lot, but is it truly practiced by employers today?
Surprisingly, despite many studies that show how important acknowledging mental health support is in the workplace, only a certain percentage of companies actually do have support for this. Based on my experience, a lot of even new self-proclaimed “progressive” companies, in fact, don’t even believe in this.
Stigma in the workplace
Unfortunately, many bosses I’ve met cringe at the phrase, “mental health,” and assume that a person who has a mental health illness is crazy and cannot work in a high-stress environment. I was personally offended, having a very successful mother despite her clinical depression. The stigma is so strong that I had an experience where a previous manager called one of his staff weak because s/he had been suffering from depression and had requested a different supervisor. I for one, had worked with that supervisor and believe that the person’s concerns were quite valid.
I’ve even heard others call depression a “fad” and a “trend.”
Don’t be like those people; let’s educate ourselves. There are more instances of these because we are finally understanding the phenomena. It has always been there, but we never had a name for them. It is not something “popular” that people decide to have.
We are making small strides, particularly in the Philippines, after the Mental Health Act was passed.
In passing the Mental Health Act (Republic Act No. 11036), the government took a step towards affirming the right of all Filipinos, not only the workers, to good mental health and mental health services…Furthermore, employers are now required to develop appropriate policies and programs on mental health in the workplace…
Martin Luigi Samson, Writer
BusinessWorld
Article LINK
Unfortunately, it will take time until before these practices are enacted and truly observed in more workplaces.
Start small: Be careful of what you say
You don’t know everyone’s situation. Insulting someone and calling them weak might lose you respect from staff who has direct ties with someone with a similar situation, or worse, if they themselves are going through the same thing. I’ve met a lot of people with mental health illnesses that are successful in their jobs.
We need to debunk these myths, and start supporting people with these conditions instead of call them “weak” or “crazy.” One small step we can take next to acknowledging this as valid is to be OPEN to conversing with people who want to discuss these (without calling them weak or sensitive behind their backs).
This is where empathy and sensitivity comes in. Are you truly a “progressive” company or boss like many claim to be today? Do you walk the walk or are you all talk?
More resources:
The Soft Skills Station 