Mental Health Services in the Workplace

Mental Health Services in the Workplace

By Neidi Calvillo

Mental Health services should be offered in workplaces, whether directly in the workplace or through health benefits. Mental Health has been stigmatized and suppressed for many years. Millions of people struggle with their mental health every day. Until recently, mental health has received more awareness, and the stigma is slowly dying.

For example, having a therapist come into the workplace once a week or even twice a month to talk to the employees could be beneficial. Another example could be adding a number of Mental Health sessions to the health benefits plan and extending them if the employee would like to continue.

Mental Health should become supported and normalized in the workplace, where daily high-stress situations occur. In a way, it is beneficial to employers to provide these services. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mental illnesses such as depression are associated with higher rates of disability and unemployment. Providing Mental Health services could help employees overcome depression and strive in their work.

In the article “Overcoming depression: How psychologists help with depressive disorders,” the American Psychological Association explains how therapy can help someone with their depression. “Psychotherapy can help people with depression to: Develop skills to cope with symptoms and problems, and identify or prevent future episodes of depression.” This quote explains one of the many things psychotherapy can help one accomplish. Poor mental health affects an individual in the workplace, some being; teamwork and communication, completing daily tasks, job performance, engagement, and much more. So, as you can see, providing Mental Health services can help the well-being of an individual and improve growth and productivity in a business.

Neidi Calvillo is a Sociology Latina student at Sonoma State University in my sophomore year. She is from Cloverdale, California.