Most companies don’t make ensuring their employees’ mental health a priority. New research shows this is a mistake — if we’re talking about depression, that is. A year-long study, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, revealed the financial benefits of getting depressed employees into treatment:
- Employees who got into treatment quickly worked two more weeks throughout the year, on average
- Employee retention rate was higher in the intervention group; 93 percent as opposed to 88 percent
- Intervention workers were 40 percent more likely to recover from depression
What’s interesting is that the study excluded employees with “lifetime bipolar disorder, substance disorder, recent mental health specialty care, or suicidality,” perhaps because treatment is a little trickier (and often a lot more expensive) in these cases. Even still, an employee struggling with violent mood swings, addictions, or suicidal impulses will probably be no more productive than a frowny-faced bouncing ball, like we’ve all seen in the Paxil commercials. But providing for every mental health affliction — like ADD, obsessive compulsive disorder, or panic disorder — may eventually hurt the bottom line.
Considering 1 in 4 adults is diagnosed with a mental illness in a given year, what role should employers play in making sure those workers all get treatment?
(No Hard Feelings image by Sarah_Jones)
