Conference highlights: Mental Health Summit Vancouver

What are some of the causes of mental-health issues and how can employers recognize when an employee is having difficulties? At the 2016 Mental Health Summit in Vancouver on Dec. 13, experts provided insight into mental-health issues at work and offered up actionable takeaways for how to address them and create a mentally healthy and productive workplace.

Photos from the event are available in our photo gallery.

Here are the highlights of the sessions:

The employer’s role in addressing mental health through financial wellness
With research showing a strong link between personal finance, stress and mental and physical health, it’s time to make financial literacy part of wellness efforts, participants at last month’s Mental Health Summit in Vancouver heard.
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The keys to optimal management of mental health at work
With mental illness affecting 20 per cent of the Canadian population, the impact on the workplace is significant given that it’s the No. 1 cause of disability and represents 70 per cent of the cost of disability claims.
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Concerns raised about high rates of antidepressant prescriptions
Armed with statistics and studies, Peter Gove, innovation leader for health management at Green Shield Canada, spoke at the recent Mental Health Summit in Vancouver about high rates of diagnosis of depression and prescribing of antidepressants.
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The promises and perils of personalized medicine and antidepressants
While there’s a lot of talk about how personalized medicine and biomarkers could improve treatment for people with a range of diseases, the technology isn’t yet ready for prime time, Dr. Raymond Lam, a researcher and professor of psychiatry at the University of British Columbia, told last month’s Mental Health Summit in Vancouver.
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Tips for supporting employees with PTSD
Post-traumatic stress syndrome can affect anyone, whether a first responder who faces traumatic events on the job or someone who experiences an emotional shock such as a car crash, sudden death, divorce or a crime incident. A panel of experts at the recent Mental Health Summit in Vancouver shared suggestions for how employers can better support employees with PTSD.
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