Employers Need to Talk About Mental Health in the WorkplaceEmployers Need to Talk About Mental Health in the Workplace
Horizon Heart to Heart
Experts from Horizon Health Services and Independent Health talk about a joint mental health toolkit for employers, addressing stigma, education and early support for staff. The conversation highlights how workplaces can respond more compassionately to mental illness, substance use and the added pressures brought by the pandemic.
21:35•28 Oct 2020
Why Every Employer Should Talk Openly About Mental Health
Episode Overview
- One in five people experience a mental health disorder each year that needs treatment, yet many still think they should simply push through it.
- A mental health employer toolkit helps leaders recognise warning signs, start supportive conversations, and connect staff with appropriate care.
- Stigma, lack of understanding, and not knowing what help exists are major reasons people avoid seeking support for mental illness and substance use.
- The pandemic has intensified isolation, relapse risk and overdose deaths, making proactive support from employers more important than ever.
- Approaching someone from a caring, informed, nonjudgmental position and offering clear options for help can open the door to life-changing support.
“Help has never been so easily available.”
What makes a recovery story truly inspiring? For many people, it starts long before rehab and AA meetings – right at their desk at work. This Horizon Heart to Heart episode looks at why employers need to stop whispering about mental health and start talking openly, especially where stress, burnout, substance use, and performance all collide. Host Christina Pearl chats with Horizon Health Services CEO Anne Constantino and Independent Health’s behavioural health medical director, psychiatrist Dr George Burnett.
Together they talk through their joint mental health employer toolkit, designed to help managers and staff spot concerns early, start kinder conversations, and point people towards real help rather than waiting for a crisis. Anne reminds everyone just how common these issues are, noting that “one in five people suffer from a mental health disorder each year that needs treatment,” while many still think they should just “get over it”.
Dr Burnett explains how they first educated their own staff on topics like suicide awareness, depression, anxiety and substance use before rolling the training out to other workplaces. The episode also touches on the sharp rise in suicide and overdoses, plus the uncomfortable truth that “more people still die of alcohol-related consequences than they do from opioids”.
They talk about how isolation, remote working and easy access to alcohol and other substances can worsen hidden struggles, particularly for those already in recovery. You’ll hear practical ideas on how employers and families can raise concerns from a place of care, using a “knowledgeable, supportive, nonjudgmental approach” rather than judgement or blame.
There’s encouragement too in the growth of telehealth – as Anne puts it, “help has never been so easily available.” If you’ve ever wondered how a workplace can genuinely support mental health and substance use recovery instead of looking the other way, this conversation offers plenty to think about and discuss with your own team. What kind of culture is your workplace building?
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