Do your mental health benefits need an update?

October 20, 2023 11:26 AM

A female therapist and female patient sit facing each other in chairs in an office filled with plants

In 2020, the rapid and disorienting impacts of the pandemic forced mental health into the workplace conversation, and leaders made a point to check in on their teams, and try to provide them with better support.

Nearly four years later, that conversation has quieted, but the need has hardly diminished. In 2023, a third of adults reported symptoms of anxiety and depression, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, and 90% of Americans believe there's a mental health crisis in the U.S. In the workplace, 62% of missed work is due to a mental health condition, and half of all employees have quit their job because of their mental health. For Gen Z, that figure is a shocking 81%, according to KFF.

Seventy percent of employees would like their workplace to provide resources that alleviate stress and anxiety — and many, from Prudential to Walmart, have taken big steps to answer the call.

But is it enough? The shifting landscape of mental health struggles and available care put an increasing amount of pressure on employees to not just provide their workforce with a baseline mental health benefit, but to provide support that meets their unique needs.

The evolution of virtual care

Read:

'I needed her to get better': This working mom used virtual care to battle her daughter's eating disorder

By the time Christina Andrews realized her daughter was struggling with diet and body image, she was already in the throes of an eating disorder that would upend the next 17 months of the family's life.

As Andrews desperately explored treatment options — which ranged from dismissive diet recommendations to prohibitively expensive inpatient facilities — a recommendation through a Facebook support group led Andrews to Equip, a telehealth platform for eating disorder treatment. Her daughter was enrolled in a yearlong program that matched her and her family with a care team that included a therapist, nutritionist and peer mentors.

"Within the first four months, she was weight restored," Andrews says. "I was told eating disorders have a 30% recovery rate, and that wasn't good enough for me. I needed her to get better, and Equip really played a huge role in that."

When PTSD is a workplace issue

Read:

Living with PTSD: What first responders need to survive the job

The U.S. Fire Administration estimates that 20% of firefighters and paramedics will meet the criteria for a PTSD diagnosis during their careers, compared to 6.8% of the general population. And yet a lack of resources and stigma surrounding mental health care leaves many firefighters to carry their struggles alone.

Derek Farrow, a California firefighter, shares his story with EBN — and outlines how he got treatment, and how employers can spot signs of distress and provide support.

Are we dismissing Gen Z’s demands?

Read:

What the 'lazy girl job' trend says about Gen Z's mental health

First coined on TikTok, the "lazy girl job" has joined "quiet quitting" and the Great Resignation as a new workplace trend led by Gen Z employees. But is the youngest demographic in the workforce actually abandoning their work ethic, or simply shifting their expectations around work and wellness?

"This trend is an oversimplification of a significant shift in workforce mentality," says 26-year-old Jordan Lintz, founder and CEO of marketing agency HighKey Enterprises Enterprises. "I don't believe anyone is seeking an 'easy way out,' but are instead valuing different aspects of work-life balance that previous generations may not have been able to prioritize enough."

The next wave of mental health care

Read:

From ketamine to psychic readings, employers are thinking outside the box on mental health

When Amanda Rieger works with clients through her business, Soul Pathology, her goal is to help them uncover their most authentic selves. But Rieger takes a more unconventional approach.

"I'm a psychic medium and an intuitive, and I've had those gifts since I was very young," she says. "It's me communicating for your soul, your higher self, every version of you that ever was or ever will be. I ask, 'What are your challenges?' And I can see what's going on at a very deep fundamental level."

Like traditional therapy, meditation and other practices that support mental wellness, Rieger helps her clients process trauma in order to find an optimal state of well-being. While her approach may seem radical, it may be the key to addressing the increasingly dire state of mental health in the U.S.

Learn from leaders in the space

Read:

How Prudential, Walmart, Aflac and PwC support mental health at work

At Prudential, the well-being of its more than 40,000 employees is an ongoing focus of leadership, says Andrew Gregg, VP of benefits. In addition to partnering with mental health provider Lyra, the company conducts management training to help identify employee needs and make mental health part of the everyday conversation within the workplace.

"We set out to have a clearer strategy around mental well-being, and really worked cross-functionally to drive more of an enterprise strategy to improve the culture, reduce stigma, raise awareness and help leaders be as empathetic as possible, because this is what is going to be really important in getting this right," Gregg says.