Mental health has business impact

Helping employees maintain good mental health can have a positive economic impact for business.

As it stands, mental illness is costing Canadian business millions daily, said Gary Shepherd, Director of Mental Health and Addiction Services with Sunrise Health Region.

"Today in Canada half a million people are missing work due to mental health issues That's certainly a big, large number," he told those attending a noon luncheon of the Yorkton Chamber of Commerce.

Shepherd said workers can be affected by a range of metal health issues from depression to bipolar disorder, which impact productivity and absenteeism. He said the annual loss in Canada is estimated at $20.7 billion, with that number expected to reach $29.1 billion by 2030.

Shepherd said as dramatic as those dollar values are, they do not include the costs of patient care, and insurance, which only increases the overall financial cost within Canada.

Bringing things closer to home, Shepherd said in the seven weeks since he took his current position some 340 people have sought help through mental health services locally, with 43 per cent of those "presenting due to work related stress."

Shepherd said a question for business people is "what do we do about that?" He answered the question by suggesting the entire system needs to "step back from what we have traditionally done."

The first step in such a change is to see mental health "as a community issue," said Shepherd, adding mental illness can go from mild to debilitating, with a range of impacts on individuals and their jobs.

Shepherd said employees can certainly play a role, including having training for managers to better "identify people struggling with mental health issues."

Employers can also be more aware of how they can support mental health in the workplace, said Shepherd.

But "the biggest impact we can make," offered Shepherd "as a collective group we can remove the stigma of mental illness."

Two-out-of-three will have to face with mental health or addictions issues, and there is currently the fear of being labeled if they tell anyone, said Shepherd, adding we do not look at mental health with the same view as we do other health issues.

"We need to work, work, work on eliminating the stigma," he said.