Workplace Mental Health: A $64,000 Question?
The question I was asked was: Are we paying too much attention today to mental health in the workplace at the expense of the other domains of wellbeing?
I call this a $64,000 question because it reminded me of a TV quiz show growing up back in the 1950’s by that name. As a result of the popularity of the show, the phrase “$64,000 question” became a popular saying, referring to a crucial or very important question or issue.
The question being asked is certainly a crucial or very important question for employers and workplace wellbeing practitioners to consider. Since the question is, in my mind, a crucial or very important question, I needed to think about how I wanted to respond.
I found myself wanting to answer the question from two perspectives. The first was a mental health professional and the second from the perspective of a question I have been asking myself for awhile now, dating back several years as the concept of employee wellbeing began to gain some traction. The question I began asking myself was: How many domains of wellbeing is it realistically possible for an employer to effectively address within a comprehensive approach to employee wellbeing?
The mental health clinician in me wants to answer the $64,000 question with a resounding “NO”. One can never focus too much on the mental health of employees. But as I thought about this answer, I also started to say to myself “Well, Maybe”, especially if the focus is only on mental illnesses and disorders and not inclusive of the much broader meaning of mental health which includes mental wellness/wellbeing. Researchers have concluded that mental health and mental illness are not the same thing or even opposite ends of one mental health related continuum. And I subscribe to that view. My answer now is a “Qualified No.”
I now take the position that employers today need to continue their long and proud tradition of supporting employees who unfortunately experience a mental illness. But that alone is no longer enough. Since we now know that human behavior is a function of human thinking, feelings and beliefs, employers must also begin to focus further upstream from offering just a reactive response to mental illness.
Employers have a vital and critical role to play in the prevention of mental illness, along with the promotion of mental and emotional wellness/wellbeing. Employers must embrace positive mental health in the same way psychologists have come to embrace positive psychology. Employers can benefit significantly from what positive psychology has learned from the research into positive organization scholarship (POS) and positive organizational behavior (POB).
Employers today must not only continue to supply supports related to the treatment of mental illness, they also need to begin to address the known workplace psychosocial hazards and risks associated with mental illness in an effort to prevent mental illnesses from developing in the first place. In addition, employers today must also promote mental wellness/wellbeing by addressing the psychological, emotional and social components that have been identified as being associated with mental wellness/wellbeing.
The research is clear. Thriving and flourishing employees are not only good for employees, they are also beneficial to the organization’s quadruple bottom line (employees, teams, leaders/managers and the organization as a whole).
With the level of attention today being focused on mental and emotional health, are the other domains of wellbeing suffering? They could be. But I am not really sure. And I have not seen any conversation in the workplace literature or in social media that they are suffering. I am seeing just as much attention being paid to physical health, as I am to mental health. Am also seeing increasing attention being paid to the domain of economic security or financial wellbeing domain. I am also seeing the social or relationship domain getting increasing attention as well.
The question about balance across the different domains of wellbeing remains an important question however. The question is does the attention an employer pays across the domains of wellbeing really need to be balanced? I think not. The wellbeing domains an employer chooses to address must be done consciously, with deliberate thought given to the organization’s current culture and employee demographics. Added to this mix needs to be the organization’s goals for its wellbeing efforts, along with the desired goals of the employee population. What do both desire within the wellbeing space?
For the reasons cited above, this is why I encourage every organization I work with to make a conscious, deliberate decision as to the domains of wellbeing they include in their organization’s model of wellbeing. Outside of providing a digital platform, offering a comprehensive approach to employee wellbeing across multiple domains can be quite challenging for most employers. Just as the belief today that employees can Have, Be and Do It All is a myth, it is the rare employer who can effectively and comprehensively address every known domain of wellbeing.
Any debate surrounding whether the focus on mental health in the workplace overshadows other domains of wellbeing is indeed a $64,000 question — not just in its complexity, but in its crucial importance to the future of both workplace mental health and workplace wellbeing. This discussion isn’t just about balancing attention across different wellbeing domains; it’s fundamentally about redefining how we support our workforce in comprehensive and meaningful ways.
While concerns about an imbalanced focus might arise, the evidence suggests that strengthening mental health initiatives does not necessarily detract from other wellness areas. Instead, it often enhances the overall wellbeing framework by fostering a more supportive and resilient work environment. Employers today need to not only address mental illness, but also proactively promote mental wellness/wellbeing, which can positively influence physical health, social connections and financial stability.
The answer, therefore, to whether we are focusing too much on mental health at the expense of other wellbeing domains is a nuanced one. It depends significantly on each organization’s unique culture, the specific needs of its employees and the broader objectives of its wellbeing programming and interventions.
Rather than striving for some type of balance, the goal should be a dynamic integration of all facets of wellbeing tailored to foster a work environment where employees don’t just survive, but thrive and flourish. Thus, the journey towards comprehensive employee wellbeing is not about equal allocation, but about strategic emphasis — where mental health remains a pivotal piece of the puzzle, complementing and interlocking with other wellness dimensions to build a robust, caring and flourishing organizational culture.
