Mental health issues take a toll on half of GTA workers — and employers, too
CivicAction report finds 1.5M workers in the Toronto-Hamilton region have experienced a mental health issue, resulting in $17B in lost productivity over a decade

TheStar.com
April 18, 2016
May Warren

For 10 years Adrian Lawford kept a secret from everyone at work.

The TD Bank employee has battled anxiety and depression for most of his life, but never told a soul at the office until one day when he sat his manager down to come out “from behind the mask.”

“It was a scary time,” he remembers.

“I didn’t know what kind of reaction I would I get; I didn’t know whether people would see me as being less able to handle stress or more important roles.”

A new report from CivicAction finds half of the workforce in the Greater Toronto Area and Hamilton area — more than 1.5 million people — have experienced a mental health issue, and it’s having a huge impact on companies’ bottom lines.

Mental health issues are expected to cost almost $17 billion in lost productivity over the next 10 years, and about 71 per cent of workers in the GTHA, like Lawford, are worried about the stigma that still surrounds mental health issues in the workplace.

Sevaun Palvetzian, CEO of CivicAction, said there hasn’t been the same kind of progress on eliminating stigma in the workplace as there has been in other places.

“Our livelihoods are so staked at the front doors of our workplaces that it’s something where fear has remained high,” she said.

“It is a frontier that’s been moving at a pretty slow pace,” she added, calling stress at work the “secondhand smoke” of this generation, because it follows people home and affects everyone around them.

“There is a lot around what fits underneath the ‘culture of work’ that really needs to be unpacked, and if we’re going to take this seriously it needs to be looked at with serious action,” she added.

Kwame McKenzie, CEO of the Wellesley Institute and member of CivicAction’s Mental Health Advisory Group, called workplace mental health “one of the last taboos.”

According to the report, younger workers aged 18-34 experience the highest levels of workplace stress. They’re also more likely to be working minimum wage and precarious jobs, and they often don’t feel comfortable asking for time off.

“And then the worse type of time off is a mental health problem, because of the high levels of stigma. They say, ‘Oh, you’re just not coping, man,” said McKenzie.

“What’s happening in the GTA at the moment is not all companies are thinking it through, and because of that people are breaking,” he said.

According to the report, mental health disorders are a top reason why people take short-term disability leaves.

“If we’ve got that many people, half the workforce, with mental health issues, than we’re shooting ourselves in the foot with regards to productivity,” McKenzie said.

One in four employees with high stress reported taking a mental-health related absence in the past two years.

Paula Allen, vice president of research and integrative solutions at Morneau Shepell, which conducted the survey part of the report, said emotional and interpersonal issues can be a huge source of stress at the office, whether those issues stem from poor management or troubles with other colleagues.

“A lot of organizations, when you talk about stress and workplace stress, they immediately say: We’ve got deadlines and we can’t get rid of deadlines, we can’t change the job,” she said.

“But that’s not what people are saying is the biggest problem.”

Allen said it’s important to remember that working can also help with mental heath issues. But elements need to be built into a company’s business strategy, such as manager training on the topic and leadership from the top, to address risks to mental health and help people cope.

“We can do better,” she added.

Lawford’s manager ended up being “empathetic and understanding,” and he has since started speaking openly at work about his experiences.

The father of two boys and an assistant vice-president at TD, Lawford found being more open about his experience, along with finally getting treatment after years of suffering in silence, was part of “getting on the right path.”

“Seeking support is a sign of strength and self-awareness, and it should never be confused with weakness and shame,” he said.

Stressors in the workplace
Income inequality: According to the report, income inequality increased in Toronto by 31 per cent between 1980 and 2005, the most drastic increase of any major Canadian city.

Job insecurity: Fewer than half of all workers in the GTA and Hamilton are in permanent, full-time jobs with benefits, according to research from the United Way and McMaster University. Not knowing if your job will be there from one day to the next can be a huge source of stress and anxiety.

Racial discrimination: A 2011 University of Toronto study showed resumes with English-sounding names are 35 per cent more likely to get call-backs than identical resumes with Indian or Chinese names.

Family care demands: According to the report, over the next 10 years people in the GTHA workforce could have to provide about 450 million unpaid hours of caregiving to family members with dementia, which will cost about $30.4 billion in lost productivity.

Housing conditions and affordability: With housing prices sky-high, difficulty securing an affordable place to live is another factor that can affect mental health.