The Importance of Prioritizing Mental Health in the Workplace

If you work eight hours per day, five days per week, you spend a little less than one-third of your life at work. It makes sense, then, to want your workplace to support your mental health. While mental health used to be an untouchable subject at work, employers are starting to realize the necessity of keeping their workers mentally healthy and supported. If you are feeling drained at work, learn more about how putting your mental health first can help you get more out of your day.

Mental stress can lead to preventable injuries in the workplace, and in fact, injuries can actually cause serious mental health concerns for workers. If you’ve been hurt at work and your workplace is keeping you from getting the compensation you deserve, call Thiry & Caddell at 251-336-3627. Our team of Mobile workers’ compensation attorneys is here to help.

How the Workplace Can Impact Mental Health

It’s no secret that your work environment can have a huge impact on your mental health—negative or positive. The work you do is responsible for feeding your family, keeping a roof over their heads, and covering your other obligations. That’s a lot of pressure to perform well and succeed, and a workplace that leaves you feeling on edge can make you feel like your entire life is unstable.

Your workload has a significant impact on your mental wellbeing. When employees benefit from balanced workloads and reasonable deadlines, they can do quality work. When they are overloaded or face impossible deadlines, they are in a constant state of fight or flight.

Work-life balance is an important component of your mental health. This term has really taken off in recent years as more people realize the importance of working to live—not living to work. This ties into having reasonable deadlines and appropriate workloads. Overloaded workers often work extra-long hours or take their tasks home with them, throwing their lives out of balance.

The Benefits of Supporting Workers’ Mental Health

Workers obviously benefit from a focus on mental health. Their quality of life is better, they aren’t in constant fear of losing their jobs, and they can be more creative about the work they take on. However, these initiatives also benefit employers. Mentally healthy workers are more productive and more innovative about their daily tasks, yielding better outcomes for the organization. These efforts also lead to better employee morale, decreasing complaints and disputes in the workplace. Workers who aren’t constantly on the edge of burning out also tend to take fewer sick days, resulting in better productivity and adherence to deadlines,

Challenges and Solutions

While there is lots of research showing the importance of mental health initiatives in the workplace, many employers are still resistant. Understanding these challenges can put companies in a better place to overcome them.

There is still a lot of stigma around mental health issues, which may lead some employers to shy away from these conversations. Showing them what the statistics say and how these conversations can benefit their organizational outcomes can help override these concerns.

Many Mobile employers also face significant resource limitations. With these restrictions, spending money on mental health programs may seem unnecessary. Spending in this area can lead to improved profits for the company, making them more than worth their time and investment.

Unfortunately, some workplaces are simply resistant to change. They think that if they are scraping by on deadlines and not facing massive employee losses, why change anything? This is where additional research may help. Showing employers that improved mental health can lead to improved profits, greater employee satisfaction, and better employee retention makes it hard for employers to ignore.

Remember that employers tend to put profits first, no matter how much they talk about supporting their employees and treating them like family. Focusing on money in these discussions may make them more open to change.

Struggling With a Workplace Injury? Contact Thiry & Caddell

If you’ve suffered an injury at work, don’t ignore the impact it can have on your mental health. This is especially true if your employer is refusing you the compensation you’re owed or threatening retaliation. Let us help—call our team of Mobile workers’ compensation attorneys at 251-336-3627 or reach out online to get started.