Over 50 million American adults reported dealing with a mental health condition in 2023. Mental health challenges not only affect employees’ ability to work but, in some cases, may arise because of their work environment. Despite how much mental health matters in facilitating healthy workplaces, some employees have doubts about their employer’s ability to recognize mental health struggles at work.
Supporting employees’ mental health requires both awareness and action. Organizations should work toward understanding the ways that work affects mental health and take steps to mitigate the risks and the harm associated with poor mental health.
Work-Life Balance
An inability to balance work responsibilities with a stable home life contributes to employees’ poor mental health. While the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated mental health challenges in many respects, it also introduced remote work to many employees for the first time. This offered a level of flexibility that was new to many employees and was more conducive to a positive work-life balance. Now, as many companies return to pre-pandemic policies, the loss of that flexibility is negatively affecting employee mental health. That’s according to a study published in Harvard Business Review.
