Benefits professionals are often required to focus on financial concerns such as budgets, expenses and return on investment. But mental health is all about the human side of the equation.
At the April 27 closing keynote session of this year’s Benefits & Pension Summit, Lt.-Col. Stéphane Grenier described the peer support and mental health education program that he implemented in the Canadian military as well as his own personal struggle with mental illness.
Coping with mental ill health
After returning from a tour of duty in Rwanda, Grenier suffered from feelings of depression and anxiety that were largely ignored—both by those he worked with and by himself. “I was a mess,” he said frankly, adding that he and the soldiers he served with “didn’t even know we had a problem.”
While there has always been a stigma around mental illness, it can be particularly damaging in a military environment, where soldiers are encouraged to be “tough,” Grenier explained. “I wasn’t allowed to be human in Rwanda.”
And that stigma makes it very difficult for those afflicted to get the help they need. Only 35% of people with mental health issues seek treatment, noted Grenier. Furthermore, a 2010 study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health found that mental illness costs the Canadian economy $51 billion per year in lost productivity.
Breaking the silence
One major challenge in addressing mental illness in the workplace is that people just don’t know how to deal with it, Grenier explained. “All I wanted was a bit of support. But I couldn’t get that support because no one knew how to support me.”
In Grenier’s case, it took a colleague (who was also coping with mental health issues) to notice that he wasn’t doing well and approach him. That touch point, along with other interventions, led Grenier to develop and launch a peer support program within the Canadian military.
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The program, which consists of 48 employees paid to provide peer support as well as related policies and training, was rolled out to military personnel and veterans in 2002, to their families in 2004 and to the bereaved in 2006. It was so successful that Grenier was then asked to initiate a mental health education program, which was launched to the military and their families in 2005.
So what does it take to give mental health issues the attention they deserve in your organization?
For one, it takes a real commitment from senior management. Grenier stressed the importance of embedding mental health education in leadership training, adding, “the lunch and learn methodology is sending the wrong message.” It also means “de-medicalizing” mental health—focusing on the human as well as the clinical aspects—and tailoring communications to the specific dynamics of your workforce.
It’s Grenier’s hope that mental health will eventually become so integrated into workplace culture that we’ll no longer have a need for such programs. But until that day arrives, providing support for employees who suffer from mental illness is essential. It may even save a life. “If it had not been for that support, I’m not sure I would be standing here today.”