Unfortunately, there remains a stigma attached to mental illness. One of my neighbors committed suicide last month, and none of us knew there was any problem. All of us have to do a better job of projecting sympathy and understanding. Ms. Spade’s loss is tragic.

There is a stigma surrounding mental health care. Part of the stigma is that a person might lose a job, receive a negative performance review, lose a raise, or lose a promotion. If employees fear retribution, talking about mental health issues is only more difficult.

There’s no easy answer to this question, and yesterday’s tragic Kate Spade news raises all of our awareness. As professionals, we are guarded against showing our true selves and perhaps sharing too many personal details about our lives.

What we need more in the workplace is empathy, and showing true concern for people as individuals, who have personal lives to balance with their professional lives. Empathy is an overused term, but is honestly missing in most organizations. Organizations could help take steps to help with the work-life balance by providing wellness incentives, and other incentives, as individuals are spending more time at work and the office as compared to their own families.

Employers need to take the lead in removing the stigma of mental health in the workplace. That won’t solve everything — the social and community pressures will continue. But if workplaces take the lead in making it clear that mental health is important for the individual and that an individuals choice to treat it can be discussed with management without penalty, then progress will be made.

Additionally, employers need to ensure that benefits include good mental health coverage. NOT just a miniature plan that offers a couple of counseling sessions with a soft shoulder — but serious treatment options that rise above what’s available in society.

In fact, we have a crisis in mental health treatment facilities in the US. Insurance companies are trying to force all mental health treatment into neat little boxes — yet if there’s an issue that doesn’t fit a neat box … it’s mental health.

This is a very difficult topic. Mental health transcends any industry yet hits in a very personal way. Retail is a microcosm of the communities served and as a mirror to society, retailers can take the lead in attacking the stigma attached to mental health. Witness the numerous sports injuries and our ability to talk about them, sometimes even with pride, because they are clear, tend to have a finite path and closure, the pathologies are known and the remedy is logically accepted. Enter mental health and the impacted organ is our brain, our body’s computer, the keeper of who we are and how we make sense of our world and our relationships. The disease works hard to protect itself by camouflaging reality and heightening fear and distrust. Mental health is a very private and perniciously lonely disease that we tend to address with a blind eye and ludicrously limited budgets. There are no easy answers, but the start has to be the elimination of the stigma and realize that massive funding is necessary in… Read more »

First of all I think we need to rethink the language of engagement. Too many of us speak about addressing, “mental illness.” as opposed to facilitating, “mental health.” This is more than a matter of semantics. The reason we are seeing increases in anxiety, depression, suicidal behavior, substance abuse, and other forms of dysfunctional behaviors is because life is more stressful, more complex and, frankly, more full of peril for the individual than it was 10, 20, 30 or 40 years ago. Obviously all of these behaviors impact the workplace in terms of actual tangible costs — accidents, losses in productivity, increased absenteeism, and even sadly workplace violence — but the, “hidden,” less obvious costs are equally dangerous — loss of enthusiasm, creation of a negative culture, lack of creativity, inability to attract/retain positive individuals, etc. There are lots of ways employers can address these problems. Having a really responsive HR department is a start as are employee assistance programs. But those are only the beginning. There needs to be a “judgment free therapeutic zone”… Read more »