Educate Employees about Major Depression Illness and Improve Productivity While You Save Lives
Posted Friday, February 09, 2018 by
All mental health professionals conduct assessments and/or treat people for depression from time to time.
Some who suffer with this illness may
experience such chronic long-term sadness that they barely understand
any more what it is like to feel normal.
When depressed employees find relief, it is not unlike those who are able by a medical procedure to hear or see for the first time.
You probably have employees on payroll right now who
suffer with chronic depression. They function with depression, but they
are not firing on all cylinders. Productivity losses for this group of
employees is enormous.
Employees with depression may not look
"depressed", sulk at their desk, or behave sluggishly. Still, depression
is one of the most costly illnesses to employers at a whopping $75
billion in lost productivity and absenteeism alone.
Consider educating employees about
depression perioidically so those who suffer from it have the chance to
self-diagnose, rally with motivation, seek help. This is easy to do, and
the payoffs can be great.
Here's a tip: Educate employees about
depression in an article, and refer to a term called "bottomless
sadness" associated with depression, and normal sadness. Google this
term, and wrap a 150 word article around it. Put it in your health and
wellness newsletter (or wait until March when I will do it in Frontline Employee.) You will be surprised at the impact this article has employees. Some who need help right now may reachout.
Don’t do a one-shot educational presentation or brown bag on depression. Instead trickle the information out in chapters with your newsletter, fliers, or another wellness tips program. You will see people move toward getting help after awareness builds after about six messages.
Consider this reproducible and editable tip sheet called “Understanding Depression.”
Or Google for one like it somewhere on the Web. There are many. But,
begin educating employees about this brain disease if you have not done
so in a while.
Note, the tip sheet above also is available as a Video, Web Course, DVD, and PowerPoint. All have professional narration.
Contact me anytime. Daniel Feerst, BSW, MSW, LISW-CP Publisher, WorkExcel.com 1-800-626-4327 |