Mental illness affects all organizations, and many struggle to address the problem in a manner that is both humane and fiscally responsible. While aware of their general responsibilities toward employees, employers often lack a road map to guide their mentally ill workers toward health and productivity.
Employees, in turn, may lack a clear sense of their own role in recovery—and the tools to make it happen.
It was to help employers meet these challenges that Benefits Canada hosted its fourth annual Mental Health Summit in Toronto, with the theme of “Empowering Employees to Take Action.”
Held at the Sutton Place Hotel on Nov. 10, 2011, the event kicked off with a rousing keynote presentation by David Granirer, a Vancouver counsellor and stand-up comic who lives with depression.
Granirer created the Stand Up for Mental Health program, in which people with mental illness receive instruction in stand-up comedy. The goal is to fight stigma with humour and give people with psychiatric conditions a fresh view of themselves. For the first time in their lives, “their traumatic life history is not a source of shame, but a source of material,” he quipped. (For more on Granirer’s presentation and program, read Harnessing the power of laughter to improve mental health.)
Following the keynote session, five other presenters shared startling statistics about mental illness in the workplace and outlined employers’ role in alleviating this enormous collective burden.
In the final presentation, Amanda Rogers, a teacher with bipolar disorder, discussed how support and services from her employer have made it possible for her to lead a rich and productive work life despite her condition.
Following are some highlights of the initiatives and ideas discussed at the summit:
- Far more than just sadness, depression impairs a host of biological functions and distorts judgment. Full functional recovery draws on a range of biological, behavioural and psychological interventions.
- Many therapies for depression risk being less effective if they are interrupted prematurely. In a pilot project, longer-term cognitive behavioural therapy yielded dramatic improvements in employee mental health.
- The Mood Disorders Program of Ontario is about to launch an online program that will enable mentally ill employees to take charge of their own recovery.
- Employers need to recognize that their work environment has a significant impact on the mental health of employees, and should therefore take steps to remove attitudes and practices that erode employees’ mental health.
A full report of the summit, with summaries of the presentations and speakers’ responses to thought-provoking audience questions, will appear in the January 2012 issue of Benefits Canada.
Also watch for upcoming video coverage of the conference on BenefitsCanadaTV.
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