Cases of PTSD, depression, anxiety, and addiction are on the rise following the surge of Omnicron and a difficult holiday season.

Winter can be a time for cherishing family, friends, and good cheer, but it can also be a time when people struggle. Two years into the pandemic and on the wings of a new, highly contagious variant, this winter is one of stress, isolation, frustration, and loneliness for many.

BenefitsPro has reported an astronomical spike in cases of mental health struggles through the end of last year. Between September and December of 2021 they reported one in four American workers screened positive for PTSD. That’s a 54% increase from the prior three months (June through August) and a whopping 136% increase from what was typically seen prior to COVID.¹

Depression and addiction are on the rise too. BenefitsPro reports in the same article that between September and December of last year, “depression in men increased 118%, and social anxiety increased 162%. Among men ages 40-59, general anxiety is up an astounding 94%.”¹

The result is people are working under a diminishing capacity to manage, cope, and emotionally regulate themselves both inside and outside of the workplace.

How can an employer support their employees during this difficult time while fostering a positive, collaborative environment?

1. Promote Any Mental Health Programs or Resources Your Company Offers

If your company has an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) that includes counseling services, promote it and its uses and benefits to employees. Ask the vendor to provide informational materials explaining what the program offers and emphasize that the services are free and not monitored by the company.

Post mental health resources to your company bulletin board or to your company’s intranet platform for your remote teams. Some good resources include:

2. Encourage Breaks—Particularly Quiet Ones—and Vacation Time Use

Harvard Business Review reports that making time for a brief break of total silence “restores the nervous system, helps sustain energy, and conditions our minds to be more adaptive and responsive to the complex environments in which so many of us now live, work, and lead.”² Embracing moments of quiet has a restorative quality that can help employees reset before returning to work.

Some suggestions for implementing quiet practice include:

In a similar vein, prolonged downtime—aka, vacation time, can help reduce stress and improve mental health in employees. The Society for Human Resource Management reports that the health benefits of taking vacation time include “improved productivity, lower stress and better mental health,” indicating that breaks positively impact not just employees’ mental health, but work performance as well.³

3. Embrace Flexibility

Although the lockdown is over, the pandemic is still wreaking havoc on the school calendar and thus, many a parent’s work calendar. Embracing flexibility—whether that is flexible hours or flexible work locations (home or in-office) can help alleviate a lot of stress. Harvard Business Review reports that “policies around in-person versus remote work (41%) and the lack of work-life balance or flexibility based on the policy (37%)” were cited as reasons respondents said their company’s return-to-office plans were negatively affecting their mental health.⁴ Appreciating the importance of employees’ home lives—from children to aging parents, and supporting them with flexibility is a great tool for employee retention as well as employee support.

Sources:

1. http://www.benefitspro.com/2022/01/25/ptsd-depression-and-addiction-soar-amid-skyrocketing-omicron-cases/
2. http://www.hbr-org.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/hbr.org/amp/2017/03/the-busier-you-are-the-more-you-need-quiet-time
3. http://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/employee-relations/pages/workers-taking-more-vacation-.aspx
4. http://www.hbr.org/2021/10/its-a-new-era-for-mental-health-at-work/