Employers are uniquely positioned to positively impact employee mental health and well-being. “Globally, an estimated 12 billion working days are lost every year to depression and anxiety at a cost of US $ 1 trillion per year in lost productivity.” (WHO, 2022). Creating a workplace that supports employee mental health is not only the right thing to do but is also good business: it improves productivity, attracts and retains employees, lowers overall health care costs, and creates a safe and inclusive work culture. In today’s section of the 21-day stigma challenge, we have resources for how organizational leaders and staff can work together to create workplaces that support mental health.

Learn More

READ:

Mental Health at Work: What Can I Do?

Read Mental Health at Work: What Can I Do? a resource guide that highlights what leaders, supervisors, co-coworkers, and individuals experiencing mental health challenges can do to create work environments that support mental health.

Checklist for Mentally Healthy Workplaces

Review and share this checklist on creating a mentally healthy workplace.

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WATCH:

Mental Health at Work

Watch the 4-minute video Mental Health at Work, created by the U.S. Department of Labor, that describes how employers can and should focus on the mental health of their employees.

Take Action

Workplace Mental Health Playbook

Share the Workplace Mental Health Playbook with your organizational staff and leaders. This toolkit provides an excellent set of policies and practices organizations can put into place to support mental health within the workplace.

Question of the Day

What are some things you can do to improve the culture around mental health within your workplace?

What are some things you can do to improve your own mental health at work?

Join the Discussion

Record Your Activities for the Day

The challenge is designed to spur change – in mindsets, behaviors, opportunities and practices. Please help us keep track of how individuals are engaging with the 21-Day Stigma Challenge resources and actions. Each action you take, each resource you review, will add a ticket in your name to the drawing for one of five $100 gift cards at the end of the challenge.

Engagement Tracking Form

Do You Want To Learn More? Check Out These Additional Resources:

Tools to Promote Mental Health in the Workplace

The Center for Workplace Mental Health created this toolkit to guide organizations in their efforts to create conditions that normalize and promote mental health in the workplace.

Examples of Organizations that Transformed their Work Culture

The Center for Workplace Mental Health also has case examples of organizations that transformed their work culture to promote employee mental health. You can read these case studies here.

The Role of Organizations in Promoting Mental Health

Recognizing the important role organization’s play in an individual’s mental health, The US Surgeon General created this Framework for Workplace Mental Health and Wellbeing. This document describes this framework and the actions leaders can take to create a work environment that promotes employee mental health and wellbeing.

Hope Starts with Us: Workplace Mental Health

Listen to this podcast, part of the NAMI “Hope Starts with Us” series, which explores how supporting mental health within the workplace benefits both organizations and employees.

Spread The Word!