There’s still some hesitance to discussing depression, but insurance brokers should be broaching the subject even with corporate clients
There is a greater willingness to discuss depression, and insurance brokers should be broaching the subject with their business clients.
Creating a strategy to deal with workplace depression is more than just a “feel good” extra insurance agents can offer their business clients – it is a tangible benefit that can immediately translate into fewer claims and improved productivity.
“Employers are looking at mental health in general, because it is a large portion of their costs,” says MH Pelletier, a psychologist and consultant with Sun Life Canada. “And not all cultures are the same. Some focus on employee health, others focus on the needs of the shareholders first. So it is important to know where you are starting from. But the reality is that they are tied – the financial and the health needs.”
And the costs can be found on the company ledger. When it comes to long-term disability claims, one-third of those claims are mental health, and the largest portion of that one-third is depression.
According to a CAMH study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, the lack of awareness among workers suffering from depression poses the greatest barrier to treatment, with more than half failing to recognize a need for help.
“Depression doesn’t happen in one day,” Pelletier told LHP. “It isn’t like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, where you can tie it to one event. Depression doesn’t happen that way. But by detecting the signs early, we can slow it down, mitigate it, and eventually reverse it.”
Recognizing mental health and its impact on worker safety and health was given a boost by the Not Myself Today campaign that was launched in 2013, with more than 270 organizations participating in the program to date.
Not Myself Today addresses six of the 13 factors contained in the world’s first national standard for psychological health and safety in the workplace, put together by the CSA.
According to Pelletier, a number of large employers have been proactive in initiating campaigns to detect and treat depression, and have been successful in mitigating the effects.
“They are seeing their employees using their resources more, such as the family assistance programs,” she says, “and they are not seeing them go on disability as much; or if they do go, it isn’t quite as long.”
What is more important for Pelletier is that depression is being discussed separately from other mental health issues.
“In the past few years, we’ve been talking about mental health – which is what we needed to do to start. But we don’t usually talk about ‘physical health;’ we talk about cancer or diabetes. And in mental health, nothing is the same either,” says Pelletier. “I take it as a positive sign of increased literacy, that we’re looking at more specific disorders. We need to do that.”
Creating a strategy to deal with workplace depression is more than just a “feel good” extra insurance agents can offer their business clients – it is a tangible benefit that can immediately translate into fewer claims and improved productivity.
“Employers are looking at mental health in general, because it is a large portion of their costs,” says MH Pelletier, a psychologist and consultant with Sun Life Canada. “And not all cultures are the same. Some focus on employee health, others focus on the needs of the shareholders first. So it is important to know where you are starting from. But the reality is that they are tied – the financial and the health needs.”
And the costs can be found on the company ledger. When it comes to long-term disability claims, one-third of those claims are mental health, and the largest portion of that one-third is depression.
According to a CAMH study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, the lack of awareness among workers suffering from depression poses the greatest barrier to treatment, with more than half failing to recognize a need for help.
“Depression doesn’t happen in one day,” Pelletier told LHP. “It isn’t like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, where you can tie it to one event. Depression doesn’t happen that way. But by detecting the signs early, we can slow it down, mitigate it, and eventually reverse it.”
Recognizing mental health and its impact on worker safety and health was given a boost by the Not Myself Today campaign that was launched in 2013, with more than 270 organizations participating in the program to date.
Not Myself Today addresses six of the 13 factors contained in the world’s first national standard for psychological health and safety in the workplace, put together by the CSA.
According to Pelletier, a number of large employers have been proactive in initiating campaigns to detect and treat depression, and have been successful in mitigating the effects.
“They are seeing their employees using their resources more, such as the family assistance programs,” she says, “and they are not seeing them go on disability as much; or if they do go, it isn’t quite as long.”
What is more important for Pelletier is that depression is being discussed separately from other mental health issues.
“In the past few years, we’ve been talking about mental health – which is what we needed to do to start. But we don’t usually talk about ‘physical health;’ we talk about cancer or diabetes. And in mental health, nothing is the same either,” says Pelletier. “I take it as a positive sign of increased literacy, that we’re looking at more specific disorders. We need to do that.”
