Mental Health at Work: The Stigma Still Sticks

“Significant stigma remains”
    Despite growing awareness and acceptance of the prevalence and impact of mental health disorders by many organizations, mental health stigma is still a major challenge in the workplace, according to a Time magazine article.
    “Despite progress, significant stigma remains, especially in workplaces where people might fear disclosing mental health issues due to potential negative consequences,” according to an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
    I think there are two perspectives on mental health in 2025: 1) the view from 30,000 feet; and 2) personal experiences on the ground.
    The big picture view: yes, there is a crisis; there is greater acceptance, openness and spending when it comes to mental health. The stigma still sticks in too many workplaces, especially small businesses, but it is shrinking. More employees feel comfortable talking about their mental health while at work (roughly 50% according to the American Psychiatric Association). Still, only about one in five are completely comfortable.

Close encounters with mental health
    On the ground, in many offices and homes where close encounters with mental health ills occur, the stigma stubbornly persists. It survives due to the negative attitudes of too many families, friends and coworkers, perhaps influenced by personal relationship dynamics. I can attest to this, having suffered bouts of anxiety and depression. I’ve heard comments such as:
    • “Your anxiety is contagious, and it makes me anxious.”
    • “You’ve lost your spark, the gleam in your eye.”
    • “You ask for my help. When did I ever ask for your help?”
    • “Your life has been living hell for the last 10 years.”
    • “You’ve been sucked dry by your work relationships. It’s a mess. It doesn’t make sense.”
    • “You should feel at peace about all you’ve done. It makes no sense that you are the one who is suffering.”
    • “What are you going to do today to ease your sadness? Is it possible?”
    I believe it’s easier for many folks to deal with a physical illness than an illness in the head. Especially if they have never experienced anxiety, depression, insomnia or other mental health disorders themselves. Another factor: Someone who has overcome such experiences may see no reason why others shouldn’t be able to as well. “I sat on my bed, practiced deep breathing for five minutes, and the panic attack passed,” one friend told me. She added, “I’ve been through a lot in my life, and I just did what I had to do. I didn’t complain, didn’t get emotional. I worked through it.”
    It helps remove the stigma to put yourself in other people’s shoes and look at the world from their perspective. This is part of emotional intelligence (EQ). According to research by Travis Bradberry, author of Emotional Intelligence 2.0, about 36% of people have EQ. EQ is the ability to identify and understand emotions. Empathy can play a major role in erasing the mental health stigma. Pay full attention to the other person and take time to listen and understand, with patience and without judgment, what they are saying and how they are feeling.

A significant gap in attitudes
    A yawning gap exists between the macro view of mental health — growing public and corporate awareness, acceptance and support; and the micro attitudes and interactions of some families, friends and coworkers – ranging from supportive to dismissive. Most mental health stigmatizing, ironically, can come from those closest to the person feeling anxious, depressed or suffering from one of many mental health disorders. Negative or confrontational attitudes combined with other dynamics in personal relationships can create a “self-stigma,” where a person suffering from a mental health disorder feels unworthy, weak, isolated, misunderstood and less likely to seek help.

Attacking the stigma
    Attacking the mental health stigma calls for action coming from the top down and the bottom up. At the top, business leaders are accountable for creating and investing in workplace cultures supportive of mental health initiatives. Leaders must ensure that managers down the chain of command do not engage in double-speak when addressing mental health, as in, “Take time off” while the manager reminds the team that “time is of the essence.”
    Leaders are also responsible for shifting the emphasis from individual-level interventions to broader systemic interventions, such as workload management and following recommendations from ISO 45003, the first global standard for managing psychological health and safety at work.
    On the ground, where personal interactions occur, some people who knowingly or unconsciously stigmatize are too set in their ways to change. One promising development is in K-12 and college education, where the realities of mental health disorders are being addressed by a growing number of schools concerned about their students’ welfare. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) “Youth Risk Survey Data Summary & Trends Report 2013-23, 40% of high school students reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness; 20% seriously considered attempting suicide; and nearly one in ten (9%) attempted suicide.
    Treatment services are increasingly common in schools, and about 20% perform mental health screening, according to one 2020 study. More and more schools are investing in social and emotional learning (SEL). This prevention approach teaches children strategies to identify, regulate, and manage their emotions, similar to teaching them about physical health and nutrition.
    K-12 students and college students become exposed to, and educated about, mental health issues a generational shift may lessen the mental health stigma. Older, more conservative individuals with set attitudes will gradually be replaced by younger, better informed and more open-minded individuals. This turnover in attitudes will take years but sets the stage for a future where the mental health stigma is significantly diminished.