Mental health disorders becoming more common in the workplace: report
Posted May 22, 2015 10:56 am.
Last Updated May 22, 2015 11:01 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – From depression to anxiety, poor mental health is becoming more prevalent in workplaces around the country.
Mental health disorders are more than 60 per cent more common among working Canadians than the general population, according to a new report from the Conference Board of Canada.
“One of the key highlights is the high prevalence of mental illness in the services business. For service economy, this is concerning,” says Louis Thériault with the Conference Board.
There are close to 4.2 million employed Canadians who are dealing with mental illness.
Thériault says many employers do have the tools to help workers, but “it doesn’t necessarily mean that the workplace has been trained to deal with that. Supervisors and colleagues alike need to be trained in order to help maintain a mentally healthy workplace.”
It’s estimated that mental illness costs Canada $20 billion annually due to lost labour force participation.
