Mental Illness and Substance Abuse in the

Workplace

Sheila Thibodeau, LCSW, CCS, Qualified SAP

Mental Illness

• Mental Illness is defined as ‘collectively all diagnosable mental disorders’ or ‘health conditions that are characterized by alterations in thinking, mood, or behavior (or some combination thereof) associated with distress and/or impaired functioning.’

- (Center for Disease Control and Prevention)

Mental Illness (MI) Cont….

• According to the World Health Organization, mental illness accounts for more disability in developed countries than any other group of illness, including cancer and heart disease

• 1in 4 individuals will suffer from Mental illness

• Nearly ½ of all long term sickness absences are caused by mental health problems

(Center for Disease Control and Prevention)

Mental Illness Cont…

• In a 3 month period, patients with depression miss an average of 4.8 workdays and suffer 11.5 days of reduced productivity.

• Significantly greater percentages of lifetime depression have been reported among women (11.7%) than men (5.6%)

• (Center for Disease Control and Prevention)

Substance Abuse (SA)

Substance Abuse is a harmful pattern of use of any substance for mood altering purposes which leads to frequent and serious problems. These problems can impact performance at school, work or home.

Substance Abuse (SA)• 75% of illicit drug users work• More than 60% of adults know someone who

has reported to work under the influences of alcohol or other drugs

• Alcohol and drug abuse has been estimated to cost American businesses roughly 81 billion dollars in lost productivity each year.

• Alcoholism is estimated to cause 500 million lost workdays annually.

(National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. U.S Department of Health and Human Services)

Impact of SA and MI on

Organizations

• Presenteeism

• Turnover

• Absenteeism

• Lost Profitability

• Safety

• What is my Role?

What is my Role

• Focus on Job Performance and Safety

• Balance Sensitivity vs. Performance

• Know your Policies and Procedures

• Be aware of signs and symptoms of SA & MI

What is my role cont...

• Have effective conversations with employees **

• Honor Confidentiality • Be honest, fair, consistent & respectful

• Be clear about policy with employee

What is my role cont…

• Offer compassion and help

• Be familiar with Resources

• Follow up

Signs of Impairment Cont…

• Attendance

• General Behavior

• Job Performance

Signs of Impairment• The signs listed may not necessarily mean an

employee has a SA or MI problem.

• When evaluating situation, review the entire picture

• Do you see more than one sign

• Have several instances occurred over time

• Is there a progression in signs displayed

Having effective conversations

• Plan what to say

• Develop agenda

• Decide how to conduct meeting (priv/other supv)

• Describe factual observation (examples)****

Having effective conversations

cont…

• Emphasize need for improved performance

• Give expectations

• Explain actions that may be taken if performance does not improve

• Follow Up

•Why do we not have these types of conversations?

What If…..

• Employee tells a coworker, “I might as well give up”

• Employee comes to work intoxicated

• You hear someone has a problem outside of work

• We begin to deal with a job performance issue and the employee tells us it is a disability

What is not my Role• Ignore Problem

• Enabling Problem **

• Being vague

• Offering diagnosis

• Providing counseling **

Be Cautious (?)

• Stigma

• Attitude

• Assumptions

What works

• Information and Train Supervisors

• Be familiar with and offer resources

• Place information in break rooms

• Ensure employees have access to services

• EAP

Summary• Be aware, move quickly and tread lightly

• Intervene early and supportively

• Equip managers/supervisors with skills/tools to have effective conversations with employees (EQ)

• Recognize signs; address issues; offer compassion and help

• Take action; talk; listen; maintain regular contact; document and be respectful