The Business Costs of Mental Health
This month’s issue of Entrepreneur Magazine talks about the costs of depression in the workplace:
“Entrepreneurs who run bars, restaurants and child-care or elder-care businesses have a new worry: depression. Their employees are more likely than those in other fields to get depressed enough to hurt productivity, boost absenteeism and deflate morale, according to a 2007 government study. And we’re not talking about a bluesy afternoon: A major depressive episode, as the 2007 “National Survey on Drug Use and Health” defines it, lasts two weeks or longer and involves a depressed mood, a general lack of interest and possible problems with sleep, eating, concentration and productivity. The annual cost to U.S. companies is $30 billion to $44 billion, according to the study.”
– Mark Henricks in The Moody Blues– Depressed workers bring the whole company down, so get them the help they need, Entrepreneur Magazine, April 2008
While Henricks doesn’t mention attention deficit disorder, the points are clearly transferable: mental health problems affect everyone, and they affect the bottom line. For any business with more than a few employees, there’s a decent chance that some executives may have ADHD (or other mental health concerns) that are affecting the whole company.
The Entrepreneur article mentions several options that companies can consider, including mental health coverage, mental health advising, and access to free programs that may help. If you have staff who may have ADHD (yourself and/or others), look at the options for making things better. Compassion notwithstanding, the dollar math says you should.
