Read Kai’s PDF whitepaper, No Vaccine for Mental Health

For years, better employee mental healthcare has been a critical need that has failed to garner due attention. 

Employees, misled by unreasonable cultural expectations for behavioral performance, and fearing stigma and consequent job loss, tend to keep mental health private. 

Employers, for their part, have been reluctant to cross into personal boundaries or assume responsibility over mental health that may increase employee welfare costs or adversely affect business performance.

While the conditions leading to our collective avoidance of discussing mental health in the workplace are inherently understood, they have never been more ripe for change. The pandemic has squarely placed the elephant in the spotlight by 10Xing the need for scalable, preventative, mental healthcare solutions. 

According to a December 2020 report by McKinsey, 

“What has effectively been a “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach to mental health in the workplace is becoming instead “do ask, do tell, let’s talk.” There is a coming revolution in how companies (and public-policy makers) think about, talk about, and cope with all forms of mental health issues.”

Importantly, we’d be remiss to tag the need as temporary and treat it with stop-gap measures. Covid has exacerbated an existing condition, it hasn’t created a new one. With all of the newfound challenges implicated in living in a post-pandemic world and working remotely, good mental healthcare in the workplace will still be necessary when the implausible ‘day after’ arrives. The strategies we put in place now mark the beginning of the long-term transition to Mental Health 3.0.

Whether for those experiencing difficult circumstances, or those on a spectrum of recurring issues, mental health challenges can be better managed by actively training with tools for psychological well-being (PWB) before the need becomes acute. 

Among PWB interventions, “positive psychology offers a compelling intervention strategy that ‘aims to improve the frequency and intensity of positive emotional experiences, including optimism, gratitude, purpose/satisfaction in life, and positive affect, through intentional actions in the form of targeted, structured activities.” 

Accessibility alone is not viable. The best mental healthcare solutions must be both accessible and scalable.

Read more about Mental Health 3.0 solutions.