Mental illness is more prevalent than many people realise. Around 45% of Australians aged between 16 and 85 will experience a mental illness at some point in their life, while 1 in 5 Australian adults will experience a mental illness in any given year.

Not only that but 91% of employees believe mental health in the workplace is important. However, only 52% of employees believe their workplace is mentally healthy.

The statistics around the research on mental health in the workplace doesn’t end there either. In fact, almost 50% of employees have left a workplace due to a poor mental health environment and 1 in 5 Australians have taken time off work in the past 12 months because they felt stressed, anxious, depressed or mentally unhealthy (Source: Beyond Blue).

A worker may develop mental illness prior to employment or during employment. Most workers successfully manage their illness without it impacting on their work. Some may require workplace support for a short period of time, while a minority will require ongoing workplace strategies.

These figures have a significant impact on Australian workplaces through absenteeism, reduced productivity at work and increased staff turnover. Untreated anxiety and depression can also have an effect on workplace relationships and team cohesion.

Anxiety and depression affect people in different ways. While most people are able to keep working, some may need adjustments to the workplace or job to help them continue in their role. Others may need some time off.

It is highly likely that, as a manager, you will supervise a worker with mental illness at some point in your career – whether you know it or not.

Most people with a mental health condition can effectively manage their own conditions without it affecting their ability to do their job. But there will be times when an employee requires support and reasonable adjustments at work to help them get and stay well.

What this support looks like will vary greatly from one individual to another and from one workplace to another, so it is important to take time to discuss with your employee what they need and review this frequently.

Different people, different experiences.

The experience of anxiety and/or depression and its impact on day- to-day life varies from person to person. Some people can experience repeated severe episodes of anxiety or depression throughout their life, while others have one episode, seek treatment, and never have another episode. The time it takes for someone to recover from an episode of anxiety or depression also varies for each person.

As a manager, what can you do:

• Offer support
• Educate your employees through training
• Being Inclusive, speak openly about mental health in the workplace and encourage others to do the same
• Promote a positive working environment by minimising workplace risks to mental health, such as job stress
• Approach and have a conversation with an employee you are concerned about
• If an employee took time off for recovery, stay in touch
• Address the causes
• Maintaining confidentiality and privacy

Taking care of your mental health

Many of us spend a large part of our days at work so your workplace and how we go about doing our work have a substantial impact on our mental health. While much of our working environment is determined by others, individually we can take steps that will help to protect and enhance our mental health and well-being.

Everyone is different, with different roles – at home and at work – and there is no single best approach to staying mentally well, but there are several things you can do every day to improve your well-being. A good question to ask yourself is: “What would we do if it were a physical illness?”. Many of the management principles are the same.

Know your workplace rights and responsibilities

Make sure you are clear on the rights and responsibilities related to your job. Both employers and employees have formal rights and responsibilities under discrimination, privacy, and work health and safety legislation. Understanding them can help you keep the workplace safe for yourself and others by knowing what your obligations are and being able to spot if your rights have been breached in any way.

Those things not in your control

While there are many things we can do individually to protect and nurture our mental health at work, part of the responsibility rests with your manager. However, you may be able to influence and encourage your manager to deal with issues such as:

• Clear job descriptions that detail all elements of the role that need to be performed
• Regular feedback and performance reviews that let you and your manager raise areas of concern so you can do your best in your job

Australian Human Rights Commission

Employers Under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 workplaces need to prevent harm to the health and safety of workers. This includes physical and mental health. Under the Act, an officer is a person who makes, or participates in making decisions that affect the whole, or a substantial part, of a business or undertaking. Officers have a duty to be proactive and continuously ensure that the business or undertaking complies with relevant duties and obligations. An employer must not discriminate against, harass, or victimise a person in employment because they have a mental illness.

Employees are legally obliged to:

• take reasonable care for their own health and safety
• take reasonable care that their acts and omissions do not adversely affect the health or safety of others
• cooperate with any reasonable instructions to ensure workplace health and safety.

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Workplace Mental Health & Wellbeing Resources:

• Heads up
• Black Dog Institute Workplace Mental Health Toolkit
• Beyond Blue Programs & Resources
• SANE Resources & Information
• headspace Resources for Employers

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Need Help?

If you, or someone you know is in immediate danger, please call 000, visit your nearest hospital emergency department, or use any of these crisis helplines:

• Lifeline: 13 11 14 or lifeline.org.au
• SANE Australia Helpline: 1800 18 SANE (7236) or sane.org
• Beyond Blue: 1300 22 46 36 or beyondblue.org.au/forums
• Black Dog Institute: blackdoginstitute.com.au
• Headspace: 1800 650 850 or headspace.org.au
• ReachOut: reachout.com
• Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467
• 13YARN: 13 92 76