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Five Good Reasons to talk about Mental Illness in the workplace
October 01 2007
Toronto Mental Illness will affect every person in your workplace in one way or another, but its still an unspoken and neglected reality for many companies.
"The statistics are very clear," said Rod Phillips, President and CEO of Shepell·fgi. "With four and a half million Canadians experiencing some form of mental illness in their lifetime, its only a remote possibility that you wont be affected either directly or by a friend or family member. Thats why we wanted to give companies five reasons from our own research why companies need to take the stigma off mental illness."
#5 - One in five employees on a team will be adversely affected if their manager or supervisor is struggling with mental illness and does not seek help.
#4 - Mental illness is the leading cause of absenteeism in the workplace higher than heart condition, diabetes and back problems combined.
#3 Depression is the leading cause of "presenteeism" where an employee shows up for work but is not engaged in their jobs, affecting their productivity.
#2 Depression and mental illness cost the Canadian economy 16 billion dollars a year
#1- Mental illness on average costs your company approximately 14 per cent of its net annual profits.
"You just cant afford to ignore it when your employee is unwell," said Karen Seward, Senior Vice President of Business Development and Marketing. "But the problem is how we treat people who are unwell. Depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia these are illnesses that require support and treatment just as you would treat any other illness. If you have a stigma in the workplace against mental illness, employees will suffer in silence and it will affect your bottom line."
You can promote Mental Illness Awareness Week in your workplace in a number of different ways through lunch and learns, managerial training to spot the signs employees may be unwell and corporate emails reminding people this week that mental health is just as important as your physical health.
For more information, please contact:
Rosalind Robertson
PR and Events Manager, Shepell·fgi
rrobertson@shepellfgi.com
(416) 355-5491
About Shepell·fgi
Shepell·fgi is Canadas leading provider of workplace health services, including prevention-focused Employee Assistance Programs. The company services over six million employees and their families across Canada, the United States and internationally. Shepell·fgi helps organizations maintain healthy employees and healthy workplaces.
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