Value of Mental Health Resources

🖼 Fuseli’s “The Nightmare” (1781) is one of my favorite paintings. I like it not because it’s comforting, but because it captures something we still don’t talk about enough: what it feels like to carry unseen stress. In this iconic Romantic-era work, a woman lies draped in sleep while a grotesque imp squats on her chest. Behind her lurks a shadowy horse, eyes wide in horror. It’s a visual metaphor for night terrors, but it resonates deeply with how anxiety can feel in waking life, especially in high-pressure work environments. 👉 The truth? Mental health still isn’t treated like physical health in many organizations. We champion fitness challenges and healthy snacks in the break room but ignore signs of burnout, chronic stress, or depression. Let’s change that. Here are a few best practices I’ve seen (and implemented) that make a real difference: ✅ Normalize check-ins that go beyond performance. Managers can ask, “How’s your workload feeling this week?” Not just “Are you on track?” ✅ Make mental health resources visible and easy to access. If your EAP is buried in an intranet or requires a scavenger hunt, it won’t help anyone. ✅ Treat PTO like recovery time, not a privilege. Don’t just approve time off. Encourage it. Model it. Respect it. ✅ Design work rhythms that allow for decompression. From no-meeting Fridays to quiet hours, small tweaks reduce the cognitive load. ✅ Train leaders in emotional intelligence. Psychological safety starts at the top. Art like The Nightmare reminds us that invisible burdens are just as real and sometimes just as paralyzing as any physical obstacle. Let’s build cultures where our people don’t need to wait until nightfall to be haunted by stress . 💬 How is your organization championing mental health? What’s working—and what still feels like a dream? #MentalHealthAtWork #PsychologicalSafety #Leadership #EmployeeWellbeing #Fuseli #OrganizationalCulture #LearningBites #WorkplaceAnxiety #MentalHealthAwareness

Delivering health care can be tough work.   It’s not a surprise that the stressful work health care professionals engage in pose challenges to their mental health.   There are ways though that employers in all industries can mitigate the impact of workplace stressors that go beyond improving access to mental health care providers (which is becoming increasingly difficult).   Here are just a few of the ways Johns Hopkins Medicine supports the mental health of our workforce: 👉 We employee a full time certified #mindfulness instructor on our team and in addition to mindfulness programming, infuse mindfulness messages and practices into our work. 👉 Office of Clinician and Faculty Care – we are brining mental health access into our workday to bring down a barrier to care. 👉 RISE (Resiliency in Stressful Events) – trained health care workers to help their peers at times of acute stressful events. 👉 HeartMath Inc. – A collection of breathing and thought pattern exercises to be deployed in the moment to make it easier to navigate the bumps throughout the workday. 👉 Healthy at Hopkins Champions – not everyone wants to tell their manager or human resources they’re having trouble. Having a trusted peer can help direct our employees to the appropriate mental health resource.   Your organization can deploy one or more of the same resources.    Proud to see Johns Hopkins Medicine made Newsweek's list of America’s Greatest Workplaces for Mental Well-Being for 2025. #healthcare #wellbeingatwork #employeebenefits   https://lnkd.in/eh3Gy4cc  

74% of employees want better workplace mental health support. 75% of employees are experiencing low mood. Yet most companies are still treating wellness like it’s optional. Wake up. 🚨 A new 2025 study just dropped the truth bomb every leader needs to hear: Your workforce is drowning. Political turmoil, economic uncertainty, global crises - it’s all landing on your employees’ shoulders. And they’re buckling under the weight. The cost of ignoring this? Astronomical: > Depression alone causes **35% productivity drop** > Burnout costs global healthcare **$322 billion annually** > Employee turnover can cost up to **30% of annual salary** > Mental health issues lead to **$210.5 billion** in annual losses But here’s what really gets me: Only 50% of workers even know how to access mental health care through their employer. You’re paying for benefits people can’t find. That’s not support - that’s corporate theater. 🎭 Through my work transforming workplace cultures, I see this pattern repeatedly: Companies budget for ping pong tables but not therapists. They’ll pay for team drinks but not mental health days. They measure productivity but ignore the humans producing. Real mental health support isn’t yoga mats and meditation apps (though those help). It’s: ✓ Leaders who normalize taking mental health days ✓ Managers trained to spot burnout before it explodes ✓ EAPs that actually work when people need them ✓ Flexible schedules that acknowledge humans aren’t machines ✓ Psychological safety to say “I’m struggling” without career suicide The companies thriving in 2025 aren’t the ones pretending everything’s fine. They’re the ones admitting it’s not - and doing something about it. They understand that mental health isn’t a “nice to have.” It’s the foundation of everything else. Your employees are telling you they’re not okay. The question is: Are you listening, or are you waiting for them to break? Because when 46% of healthcare workers report frequent burnout, when financial stress is crushing focus, when workplace violence has traumatized 2 million workers - “we’ll address it next quarter” isn’t leadership. It’s negligence. Stop waiting for the ‘right time’ to prioritize mental health. Your employees are struggling NOW. They need support NOW. Not next quarter’s initiative or next year’s budget line. Because healthy minds build healthy businesses. And broken people can’t build anything at all. 💚 AA✨ (Substack link in the comments 👀🩷) —————————————————— 👋🏾 Hi, I’m Abi: Founder of The Culture Partnership. Follow me as I discuss workplace culture, inclusion, leadership, social equity & justice.

A new cohort study published in JAMA Network Open found that for every $100 invested in an employer-sponsored mental health program, medical claims costs were reduced by $190. These findings suggest that providing timely access to behavioral health services not only improves individual well-being but also lowers overall healthcare costs—particularly for those with chronic conditions.   A compelling case for continued investment in mental health.

I know I’ve shared the Milliman report before. But even now, I still can’t believe the numbers: 📊 21 million people studied. 📈 Just 10% of them accounted for 70% of total healthcare costs. 🧠 Nearly 60% of that group had a behavioral health diagnosis. 💸 That group incurred an average of $45,782/year in healthcare costs - 21x more than everyone else. And yet - half of them spent less than $68 annually on mental health treatment. Employers often see that $68 and assume: “Mental health isn’t costing us much.” But they couldn't be more wrong. Mental health doesn’t just live in your EAP report - it’s everywhere in your organization. It’s showing up in higher medical claims. In burnout and disengagement. In absenteeism, presenteeism, and turnover. In disability leaves and quiet suffering. And here’s what else we know: ➡️ More than 50% of employees are dissatisfied with their mental health benefits. ➡️ More than 1 in 4 employees don’t even know if they have mental health benefits. ➡️ Up to 60% of people are treatment-resistant, meaning traditional options haven’t worked. ➡️ And for every $100 invested in mental health benefits, employers save $190 in medical claims. But this isn't just a systems issue. It’s your best friend at the law firm, silently battling anxiety. Your spouse in tech or finance, drinking more to cope with grief. Your colleague who leads well but feels like they’re barely holding it together. We need solutions that work. Ones that actually help people heal. And the good news? They exist. If you want to talk about what those look like, I’d love to share more. 💬 Drop a comment or message me directly. Because mental health isn’t just a wellness initiative anymore. It’s a human and strategic imperative. #MentalHealth #EmployerStrategy #WorkplaceWellbeing #HRLeadership #HealthcareCosts #EmployeeBenefits