You probably offer your employees some form of health benefits. But is your benefits package robust enough to fully support your employees’ range of total health needs if they are to be fully present at work and resilient?
One often overlooked area of employee support is for parents of children with mental health concerns. A survey published earlier this year by Lyra Health found that over half of the more than 1,900 U.S. workers surveyed support a child with a mental health concern. Yet, the survey also found that “worker confidence in their employer-provided resources for their kids’ mental health is lagging behind companies’ investments in this area.”
This gap can mean your employees aren’t able to devote the time and attention necessary for peak performance, costing both you and them in the long run.
“Having a child with an untreated mental health issue is going to take parents out of the workplace. Their mind and energy will be elsewhere,” says Kendall Browne, PhD, senior program manager of Workforce Transformation at Lyra Health.
November is National Family Caregivers Month, a time to highlight the vital yet often unacknowledged role of caregivers. For those who support loved ones experiencing mental health challenges, this month is an opportunity to honor their dedication, recognize their struggles, and empower them with resources.
Veterans face unique mental health challenges that too often go under-addressed, from military sexual trauma and transitional stress to the long-term impact of PTSD. These experiences don’t just affect mental well-being—they can shape every aspect of a Veteran’s life, from personal relationships to reintegration into civilian roles. Yet there is reason to be hopeful: today, more than ever, there’s a focus on empowering Veterans as community and workplace mental health leaders. With evolving peer support programs and resources designed to remove cultural and financial barriers, we’re seeing real progress in providing accessible, culturally competent mental health care. By positioning Veterans at the forefront of these initiatives, we can harness their resilience and leadership, creating stronger communities and workplaces while ensuring they receive the support they deserve.
Earlier this year, I attended the European Symposium on Suicide and Suicidal Behavior (ESSSB) in Rome. One of the plenary presentations by Prof Thomas Niederkrotenthaler, of the Medical University of Vienna, illuminated the powerful impact of the “Papageno Effect” on suicide prevention.
United Suicide Survivors International
Last week, I found myself deeply inspired by the symposium at the European Symposium on Suicide and Suicidal Behavior (#ESSSB20) in Rome, where profound discussions unfolded about the critical importance of integrating the wisdom of those with lived and living experiences into every aspect of suicide prevention and recovery.
Every day, physicians help improve and save lives. But when it comes to their own mental health struggles, they often don’t address the symptoms of trouble until they are in full-blown crisis. Sometimes, their mental health crisis turns deadly. Physicians have one of the highest suicide rates of any profession in the US. Federal data show an estimated 400 physicians die by suicide per year. More than half of physicians know a physician who has either considered, attempted or died by suicide in their career, according to Vital Signs, a nonprofit aimed at ending physician suicide. They also report an estimated one million persons in the U.S. lose their physician to suicide each year.
Starting September 4, individuals and organizations across the U.S. will engage in National Suicide Prevention Week in the lead-up to World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10. But suicide prevention doesn't matter for one day or week out of the year. Rather, it's a yearlong effort that requires patience, commitment, and—most of all—hope.
There is perhaps no better way to build a community around difficult challenges and loss than to bring people together to let them know that they are not alone, at least that is the hope that Dazzle owner Donald Rossa and United Survivor’s Board President, Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas are operating under for Monday night's special fundraiser.
We hope you take the pledge to make suicide prevention a health and safety priority at work.
Findings from a national survey involving over 2,000 U.S. adults (conducted by The Harris Poll) released this week found the overwhelming majority (81%) believe, as a result of COVID-19, suicide prevention needs to be a national priority.
Cross-cutting and intersecting identities add richness to our suicide prevention movement; however, in order to accomplish solidarity, we need to be willing to create safe spaces for listening and empathy. As part of this process we must acknowledge that identity fluidity is also expected as people move through various life experiences. Across both lived experiences and academic ways of understanding suicide, we have an opportunity to learn by removing judgment and blame, and seeking compassion — especially when we have been on the opposite sides of fear.
Five Steps in Building Solidarity in the Suicide Prevention Movement…
As the suicide prevention movement has evolved, some of our groups have experienced communal wounding. Communal wounding occurs when generations of the complex systemic oppression and culture level prejudice have been ignored in favor of surface-level activities (van der Watt, 2019). Because we were not sufficiently providing opportunities for all members of the movement to acknowledge these wounds and because many of us did not look into the mirror of our own lived experience, we continued to inflict new sources of harm.
Solidarity noun sol·i·dar·i·ty | \ ˌsä-lə-ˈder-ə-tē , -ˈda-rə- \. Unity (as of a group or class) that produces or is based on community of interests, objectives, and standards
-Merriam-Webster
“Any movement that hopes to sustain commitment over a period of time must make the construction of collective identity one of its most central tasks.” (Gamson, 1991, p. 27)
“Solidarity…holds great potential for understanding the transformative power…for social justice.” (Rogers & Calle Diaz, 2018, p.64)
There is an element of humanity that is struggling with and ultimately often excluded from conversations about mental health in general and suicide more specifically. That element is spirituality, which may or may not be directly related to religion. Spirituality is difficult to measure and cannot be prescribed and yet for the span of modern human beings it has been a staple in understanding grief, surviving trauma and counteracting the hopelessness that we know fuels despair and suicidal intensity.
Today on World Mental Health Day, the American Association of Suicidology (AAS), American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), and United Suicide Survivors International (United Survivors), announce their collaboration and release of the first ‘National Guidelines for Workplace Suicide Prevention.’ These Guidelines — built by listening to the expertise of diverse groups like HR, employment law, employee assistance professionals, labor and safety leaders, and many people who had experienced a suicide crisis while they were employed — will help employers and workplaces become proactively involved in suicide prevention in the workplace. Employers ready to become vocal, visible and visionary and who are ready to take the pledge to make suicide prevention a health and safety priority visit WorkplaceSuicidePrevention.com.
Are you in HR? An employment lawyer? Someone with lived experience with mental health or suicide who was working at the time you experienced a mental health issue while employed? If so — we want to hear from you! Please, take our 15-20 minute survey. This research project is a collaborative effort among Dr. Anthony Fulginiti of the University of Denver, Judge (Ret.) Mary McClatchey, the Employers Council and United Suicide Survivors International (through me!).
