The next frontier in prevention: Mental Health

May 6th, 2015 by Julie Ferguson

May is Mental Health Month and while the focus of workers comp prevention generally revolves around issues of physical safety, perhaps employers should expend more energy in promoting the mental/emotional well being of workers, as well. We just had a dramatic example of the effects of mental illness in the workplace in the horrific case of the suicidal Germanwings pilot who crashed the commercial jet he was flying, resulting in 150 casualties. While this might seem an outlier, an extreme case, the workplace has all too many examples of violence resulting in injuries and death. Depression and mental health issues are a workplace reality and, on the whole, they aren’t being addressed all that effectively. This should be no surprise – society at large isn’t doing such a great job when it comes to mental health issues.

Mental Health America has designated this year’s Mental Health Month theme as a prevention/early intervention one: B4Stage4. They note that we need to change the way we think about mental health:

“When we think about cancer, heart disease, or diabetes, we don’t wait years to treat them. We start before Stage 4–we begin with prevention. When people are in the first stage of those diseases and are beginning to show signs or symptoms like a persistent cough, high blood pressure, or high blood sugar, we try immediately to reverse these symptoms. We don’t ignore them. In fact, we develop a plan of action to reverse and sometimes stop the progression of the disease. So why don’t we do the same for individuals who are dealing with potentially serious mental illness?”

Among the many steps to rectify this, MHA suggests Getting informed;
Getting screened and Getting help. The site has a plethora of communication resources, graphics and fact sheets that would help in an employer communication program.

Employers should Treat the individual, not the stigma.” That’s the advice from Terri L. Rhodes, Executive Director of the Disability Management Employer Coalition (DMEC) in a recent issue of Risk and Insurance. She cites the prevalence of depression in the general population at about 9 percent, according to the centers for Disease Control. This makes it likely that about 1 in every 10 workers is grappling with depression at some point in their work life.

Rhodes says:

Employers in particular need to become educated about recognizing signs and symptoms of depression and anxiety. This alone sends a powerful message that mental illness, like all illness, respects no title or position. Utilize the services of EAPs.”

She notes that while EAPs are an almost ubiquitous benefit, “they are woefully underutilized.” Managers should be trained in when and how to best use and refer to EAPs.

Mental health as a preventive issue is important, but it also an important consideration in post-injury recovery and return to work. An article in LexisNexis talks about post-injury depression as it relates to dealing with disabilities, the process of pursuing workers’ compensation benefits, and anxiety related to the ability to return to work.

The article cites the costs from a recent study on post-injury depression conducted by Abay Asfaw, Ph.D., and Kerry Souza, Ph.D., of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The study further quotes the determination of the Bureau of Labor Statistics that “after-injury depression costs workers, group health insurance plans and/or taxpayers at least an extra $8.2 million … within a 3-month study period in 2005 dollars. Such costs of treating depression as a sequel to injury are typically not included in estimates of the economic burden of occupational injury.” These numbers do not include related costs, such as inpatient care and prescription drugs.

Employers can play a significant role in fostering workplace mental health, both in the general work population and specifically with workers who are in post-injury recovery. Here are some resources for learning more.

Partnership for Workplace Mental Health – a program of the American Psychiatric Foundation in conjunction with various employers. It offers employer case examples, publications and services.

ACOEM’s Work Disability Prevention Guideline: “Preventing Needless Work Disability by Helping People Stay Employed

The Disability Management Coalition

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