Posts tagged with “mental health”


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Even with Insurance, Employees Often Struggle to Get Mental Health Services

Having medical insurance is no longer a guarantee that you can get the mental health services you require. A recent survey conducted by the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation found that more than half of the adults who sought mental health or addiction treatment experienced significant difficulty in getting that care. The obstacles to receiving care were so ...
Featured image for “What You Can Do If You are Concerned that a Coworker May be Suicidal”

What You Can Do If You are Concerned that a Coworker May be Suicidal

A report recently released by the CDC indicates that suicide rates have increased in almost every state from 1999 to 2016 with nearly 45,000 people taking their lives in 2016 alone. The recent deaths by suicide of Kate Spade followed by Anthony Bourdain have once again put this intensely complicated subject of suicide on the front pages of the media. ...

Suicide and the Workplace – Part II, Providing Support and Getting Help

In part one of this two part post, the relevance and importance of the topic of suicide in the workplace was detailed. Suicide awareness efforts at schools and senior centers do not reach those in the middle years of their lives – a time when suicide can be an increased risk.  The proximity and time spent with coworkers means we ...

Suicide and the Workplace – Part I, Statistics and Warning Signs

The workplace is a reflection of its surrounding community. Inevitably, issues in the community like addiction, depression, and family conflict have a direct impact on the workplace. Among these issues there is no topic more emotionally charged, or more important, than suicide. Suicide prevention warrants our attention in the workplace because the feelings of despair, isolation and hopelessness associated with ...

Five Reasons to Use All of Your Vacation Time

I can’t imagine that anyone would ever feel inspired to write an article about the “Top Five Reasons for Taking 100% of Your Pay.” Nobody requires encouragement to accept their entire compensation. So why do 41% of Americans not use all of their available vacation time? Why are people not using an average of 9.2 days per year of their ...

Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) Help Improve Disability Outcomes

Our hyper-connected, 24/7, ultra-competitive and globalized work environment is putting extraordinary stress on employees and their families. The health consequences to individuals and the financial costs to businesses add up to a problem of staggering proportions: Depression has become the leading cause of disability worldwide. Behavioral disability costs have increased more than 300% in the past decade and account for ...

Six Complications of Depression

The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that 6.7% of the U.S. adult population has a major depressive disorder in any given 12 month period. The number goes up to 16.5% when looking at how many people have depression over the course of their lifetime. Depression is a devastating condition that can rob you of the precious ability to enjoy ...

Calculating the Value of an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) from a CFO Perspective

The most persuasive evidence for the value of an Employee Assistance program (EAP) depends on who is making the decision. If you are a human resources professional, or you are a front line manager, your value equation probably includes how the EAP helps you get your work done and makes your life less stressful. You assign a tangible value to ...

Responding to a Crying Employee

Let’s begin with the iconic image of Tom Hanks as the exasperated coach of a woman’s baseball team in the movie A League of Their Own, declaring “There’s no crying in baseball!” This image resonates for so many men because, let’s be honest here, some of us are flummoxed by tears and uncertain about how to respond to a person ...

EAP Essentials #3: The Business Case for Employee Assistance Program Mental Health Services

The compelling logic that supports organizations investing in EAP mental health and substance abuse services is based on some well-documented facts*: Mental health and substance abuse disorders are prevalent in the workplace In the U.S. 30-40% of the population experience mental health and/or substance abuse disorders at some point in their lives 15-20% require professional assistance in a given year ...