The True Cost of Untreated Depression in the Workplace

The importance of checking in on employees as a manager is major when it comes to morale and retention — but research conducted by Kaiser Permanente indicates that employees with unchecked mental health can also directly impact a business’s bottom line significantly. 

The findings indicate a common trend of mental health struggles is left vastly untreated due to the stigma around the situation. Despite 75 percent of employee noting that they have encountered an issue that impacts their mental health, 80 percent of those affected workers don’t opt for care to resolve it. As a result, it’s calculated that on a per employee basis, untreated depression can cost $9,450 annually due to productivity loss and general absenteeism. 

While momentum has slowly gained toward accepting mental health treatment as a regular practice, it still lags behind the rate if should be by a wide margin. Fears over publicly seeking mental health range from fear of strained co-worker relationships or perhaps even the loss of one’s job. 

Specific insights from Kaiser Permanente include:

• When it comes to worker disability, mental illness is the top worldwide culprit

• Mental health accounts for 62 percent of days where employees miss work 

• Substance abuse is 3.5 times more likely to occur in employees who are distressed

• When it comes to leaving a job for mental health reasons, Millennials and Gen Zers are far more likely than other generations, with 68 percent and 81 percent of the demographic claiming to have done so. As a whole, roughly 50 percent of full-time employees have left a job for a mental health reason. 

• The risk for heart attack or stroke is twice as likely among employees with untreated mental health issues

For additional insight on maintain mental health in the workplace, click here.