This is the first blog in a series written by Mary Ann Baynton, Director of Collaboration and Strategy for Workplace Strategies for Mental Health.
In 2003, when I first started in the field of workplace mental health, I got confused looks when I mentioned what I did. "What is workplace mental health?" people would ask. The assumption was that mental health in the workplace must mean working with employees who had a serious mental illness. Back then, most people, including leaders, weren’t ready to talk about that. At that time, mental illness was considered a deeply personal issue—something to be managed behind closed doors. It was not often discussed at work for fear of judgment or repercussions.
Fast forward to today, and the landscape has shifted quite dramatically. We no longer focus on only accommodating those with a mental illness diagnosis. There’s a focus on creating psychologically healthy and safe workplaces for everyone. It took years of advocacy and courageous storytelling by countless champions to begin this shift. We still have a long way to go, but we have momentum that we need to maintain.
Speaking up about mental illness
In 2007, I became the program director for what is now Canada Life’s Workplace Strategies for Mental Health. I saw how hard it was for employees to share their experience of mental illness at work.
One colleague who had experienced severe depression shared with me that reading much of anything when unwell was difficult. She wanted another way to learn about the experience of others who had dealt with mental illness at work and how they managed it. This realization sparked the creation of the video series Working Through It.
To help make Working Through It a reality, we looked for employees who had lived experience of mental illness and were willing to share their story. It wasn’t easy for them. Some worried that speaking publicly about their mental health struggles could hurt their careers. They feared having their stories on the Internet forever could limit future career prospects.
Despite these valid concerns, several individuals stepped forward. Something incredible happened. Their honesty and courage didn’t hold them back in their careers; it propelled them forward. They found new opportunities and connections. Their stories showed us that with the right support, people can thrive at work while managing mental health challenges. Some said the process of publicly sharing their truth was not just therapeutic but empowering. They shared that co-workers and others who saw the videos were impressed by their strength.
Working Through It was a turning point. It demonstrated the power of storytelling in changing work culture. It showed that supporting those struggling with their mental health at work wasn’t just the moral or legal thing to do, it was a good business decision too.
The impact we’ve seen is that by offering a workplace that is supportive for those with mental illness, employers improve performance and organizational excellence. They’re also able to reduce disability and increase employee commitment. And not just for those with a diagnosis, but for all employees who experience life or work stressors. We now call this type of workplace one that is psychologically healthy and safe.
Celebrities like Clara Hughes, Silken Laumann, Justin Bieber, and Margaret Trudeau have proven that success and mental illness are not mutually exclusive. Their openness about their experiences is helping dismantle the stigma that has long surrounded mental health at work.
Mental health awareness videos are a collection of some of the original Working Through It videos and some newer ones. Over a decade later, many are the same people share how they’ve coped and flourished at work and in life.
Speaking up about work trauma
Another evolving area is work-related trauma. While this topic has long been associated with first responders such as police, paramedics, nurses, and firefighters, we now consider it more broadly. Work-related trauma can happen to anyone who serves the public, such as librarians, cashiers, wait staff, housekeeping staff, and many others.
Cliff Lonsdale is an experienced international journalist. He reflected on the media industry’s historical reluctance to address mental health: “We've never been good in our industry at looking inwards. We’re always looking for stories elsewhere, thinking we’re not the story, so we just ‘suck it up.’ That’s been entrenched for decades.” And it’s not just war correspondents who are subjected to potentially traumatic scenes. Covering accidents, shootings and even politics can cause undue stress to any journalist. Because people like Cliff are speaking up about work-related trauma, more organizations are taking steps to protect the mental health of employees beginning at recruiting and orientation.
In response to these demands, Workplace Strategies developed Hiring, orientation and termination that includes many tips and strategies to prevent psychological injury to workers. There are many more resources available through Protect your team against psychological injury that can be used throughout the employment lifecycle.
Speaking up about psychological health and safety
In the coming blogs I’ll share more about how people speaking up helped us develop a standard for psychological health and safety, the impact it has had, and how it is evolving.
My hope is that you will become interested in the value of psychological health and safety at work and understand the back story and ways to take action for yourself. Please come along with me on this ride and feel free to share comments and questions as we go.
In the next blog I’ll focus on some of the conversations we had prior to the release of the original standard. These will help you understand some of the challenges and considerations we grappled with. Explore the History of psychological health and safety and read all of the blogs in this series.
The views and opinions expressed in this blog post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Canada Life or Workplace Strategies for Mental Health.
Additional resources
Background of Working Through It. Mandi Luis-Buckner inspired Working Through It and talks about her own experience with mental illness.