The persistence of COVID-19 pandemic, which already sent the Philippine economy to recession, will result in more Filipino employees suffering from mental health issues, which would be “disastrous” to businesses, according to a mental health technology firm.
Mind You, a pioneer in preventive mental healthcare in the Philippines, said while there are many causes of stress at the workplace – like long hours, heavy workload, unclear tasks, job insecurity, and conflict with co-workers or bosses – COVID-19 pandemic is now “the leading cause” for mental health issues among workers.
“This is due to the uncertainty in all aspects of most people's lives. There is the added stress of working remotely or working under unusual circumstances in relation to quarantine measures. Workers are deprived of the office support of a team staff and managers must now monitor workers remotely,” Mind You said in a statement.
Global data from a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers and Lybrand indicates that the finance industry, insurance sector, essential services and informational media sectors have more than 30 percent of employees experiencing some sort of mental health issues.
In the Philippines alone, there are roughly 3.3 million Filipinos suffering from depression. Of this, 3.17 million are experiencing anxiety issues, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
However, there is still a stigma on mental health among Filipinos.
“The workplace is a hot spot for mental health issues. Stressful work situations and office conditions normally lead to a considerable increase in absenteeism,” Mind You said.
This, according to Mind You, can be disastrous for Philippine businesses because poor mental health can affect the way employees work.
According to the Queens School of Business and Gallup Organization, a company puts itself at risk of suffering declines in profit by as much as 16 percent because of growing mental health issues among workers because their productivity suffers.
Right now, Mind You is offering an innovative online platform designed to assess each employee and provide access to unlimited psychological counseling, educational resources, live webinars and management/leadership training on mental health.
To be specific, Mind You assesses and educates companies on best practices before looking to engage with them in a long-term partnership.
As part of its outreach campaign, a team assembled by Mind You meets with the company executives and managers of the human resource departments – the very people tasked to implement policies and programs for compliance with DOLE laws. They are also dispensed with looking after employee well-being.
It also has ongoing assessments to monitor the improvement of individuals both with and without mental health issues within its partner organizations.
Mind You Founder Yuri Marshall said his company wants to break down the stigma on mental illness in the country by showing that mental health is not a taboo subject.
“As an external provider of preventative therapy sessions, employees can overcome stigma and speak to an unbiased mental health professional about their own mental health issues, with full privacy, at their own convenience,” Marshall said.
“What is also important to highlight is that Mind You provides data-driven insights for management to make improvements to their company policies and smarter financial decisions,” he added.
Moving forward, Mind You plans to provide mental health data and insights through psychometric analysis, which provides usable business reports for the company.
“Through that data, recommendations are made to organizations to improve the company's human resource and wellness strategies,” Marshall further said.