Most employees think it’s OK to talk about mental health at work. Some still don’t do it, survey finds

World events, work problems, chronic illness, financial issues … there are many unhappy stressors that can hurt an employee’s mental health. And they don’t just disappear when someone gets to work every day.

World events, work problems, illness, financial issues — there are plenty of unhappy stressors that can harm an employee’s mental health. “People are coming (into work) with a lot more than what is on their to-do list. Those stresses can affect how they’re feeling and how they perform on the job,” said Barb Solish, the national director of innovation at the National Alliance on Mental Illness, which seeks to dispel “negative attitudes, beliefs, and stereotypes that society holds about individuals who experience mental health conditions.” But not everyone feels safe talking about what ails them. A new poll commissioned by NAMI of more than 2,000 working adults in the United States found that nearly three-quarters (74%) of employees indicated that it is appropriate to discuss mental health concerns at work, but only 58% say they would personally feel comfortable doing so. “The most common reasons employees cited for feeling uncomfortable discussing their mental health at work were stigma or judgment, no one else talking about their mental health, and not wanting to seem weak,” NAMI said in a release. The poll, conducted in early January, also found that a vast majority of employees say direct managers (86%), human resources (85%) and senior leaders (78%) are responsible for “helping employees feel comfortable discussing mental health at work.” Respondents were also asked to identify what had been a source of stress for them in the past six months.