22 Shocking Statistics About Mental Health in the Workplace

Mental illness is more common that people realize

• 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. will experience a diagnosable mental illness in any given year. —NIH

  Advertisement

• 1 in 5 adults in Canada will experience a mental illness each year. —Workplace Strategies for Mental Health

• 1 in 25 adults in the U.S. will experience a serious mental illness, one that substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activity (including work), in any given year. —NIH

  Advertisement

• 40% of Canadians report that their mental health has disrupted their lives. —Workplace Strategies for Mental Health

The most common mental health issues occur everywhere—even in the workplace

• 18.1% of adults in the U.S. experience an anxiety disorder like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and specific phobias. —NIH

• Nearly 7% of adults in the U.S. have experienced at least one major depressive episode in the last year. —NIH

• 50.5% of the 20.2 million adults in the U.S. who experience a substance use disorder also had a co-occurring mental illness. —SAMHSA

  Advertisement

• Approximately 30% of people in the U.S. with a substance use disorder also have depression. —NAMI

Not tending to mental health can be costly

• The economic costs of mental illness will be more than cancer, diabetes, and respiratory ailments put together. —US National Institute of Mental Health

• Serious mental illness costs the U.S. $193.2 billion in lost earnings each year. —NAMI

• Costs associated with mental illness in Canada, in terms of absenteeism, productivity, indemnities, and healthcare, were estimated at $51 billion Canadian annually. —Workplace Strategies for Mental Health

• 3% of total short term disability days in the U.S. are due to depression and related disorders. —Mental Health America

• Depressive disorders account for more than half the medical plan dollars paid for mental health problems. (Learn more in Supporting Employee Mental Health in the Workplace). —Mental Health America

• Alcohol use costs $179 billion in lost workplace productivity each year. —SAMHSA

Stress at work

• 47% of working Canadians agree that their work is the most stressful part of their day. —Workplace Strategies for Mental Health

• Long-term stress increases the risk of developing heart disease by 150%. —Workplace Strategies for Mental Health

• Direct associations have been found between perceived stress at work and cancer in the lungs, colon, rectum, stomach, and lymph tissue. —Workplace Strategies for Mental Health

• Approximately 2 in 5 people have been bullied at work. Almost half of those targeted at work suffer stress related health problems. —Mental Health America

Mental health treatment works and it’s cost-effective

• More than 80% of employees treated for mental illness report improved levels of work efficacy and satisfaction. —American Psychiatric Association

But not everyone gets the mental health treatment they need

• Only 41% of adults in the U.S. with a mental health condition received mental health services. —SAMHSA

• African Americans and Hispanic Americans each use mental health services at about half the rate of Caucasian Americans. —SAMHSA

• Asian Americans use mental health services at about one-third the rate of Caucasian Americans. —SAMHSA