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🗣️Advocating for your mental health

🗣️Advocating for your mental health

May 17, 2023

Your mental health matters.

So why not advocate for it?

Each person, through actions and advocacy, has the potential to create ripples of change that can spread through a community or organization.

In the context of mental health advocacy at work, this means standing up and asking for your own mental health needs and rights, and in doing so, shifting the dynamics and culture of the entire workplace.

Ok, so how?

When you choose to advocate for your mental health at work, you are not only improving conditions for yourself but are also raising awareness about mental health issues more broadly. This can encourage others to follow suit and advocate for their own needs, leading to a collective change. Over time, such advocacy can contribute to shifts in workplace culture, leading to greater openness around mental health, better support systems, and less stigma.

Here are a few ways to get started.

Know the stats

Rates of extreme stress and burnout are at record levels. According to research from the Future Forum, burnout from workplace stress is at an all-time high of 42% and studies show that every year, up to 200 million workdays in the US are lost due to mental health challenges. Untreated mental health conditions can cost your organization millions of dollars per year which is a stat your boss may respond to.

If you’ve ever struggled with depression, anxiety, or a substance use disorder; if you’ve gone through a difficult time when grieving a loss or gone through a major life transition, you have a story to tell. You can share as many or as few details as you want. Opening up that discussion and destigmatizing mental health challenges can genuinely influence someone to seek help. Overall, transforming culture to support mental health has positive effects across the board—both for the wellbeing of employees, and the productivity and longevity of the company.

Ask for specific policy or cultural changes

Individual change is only as effective as the systems and structures in which it happens. There are changes to culture and policy that you as an individual can advocate for, including:

Mental health days
Better healthcare/medical benefits that include mental health care coverage
Mental health/counseling support and resources like EAPs and/or telehealth access
Mandatory manager training in mental health first aid
More flexibility in working schedules

These changes may not be available to everyone but start by asking what kind of change could you impact within your org.

Start an ERG or support community

When it comes to mental health, community, shared experiences, and peer support can be life changing. At work, ask your boss or HR if there are any employee resource groups centered around mental health and if not, start organizing. You may be surprised at the number of people who are also seeking a community to explore mental health challenges together.

Bringing in speakers or run workshops on mental health topics

If your organization or team has standing all hands meetings, quarterly retreats, or other designated gathering opportunities, ask if you can plan the agenda for one of the meetings.

You can invite a speaker or panel of speakers, host a workshop on navigating mental health at work, or open the space for employees and leaders to share their stories.

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