Scottish companies urged to do more to tackle mental health stigma
New research has revealed the extent of the stigma surrounding ill mental health
A Scottish charity is calling on companies to be "real leaders" by challenging the stigma surrounding mental ill health.
It comes after research for the mental health charity See Me found 38 per cent of workers believe their colleagues would be unlikely to speak about their mental health problems for fear of losing their job.
The same proportion of people also think people would keep mental health difficulties to themselves incase they are discriminated against by colleagues, according to the survey by Censuswide.
Improving work culture
See Me Director, Wendy Halliday, said:
"If stigma persists, people leave jobs - it doesn't matter if they're the best member of staff, if they can't cope and they aren't supported, they won't stay."
She added: "Tackling stigma and discrimination at work is more than just putting up posters and arranging wellbeing sessions - there needs to be a thorough and considered drive to improve cultures, policies and practices to remove stigma.
"If workplaces properly support staff struggling with their mental health then it can increase productivity, reduce sickness rates and help employees return to work quicker.
"We're calling on organisations to be real leaders in creating positive change, making their workplaces the best they can be, by joining the See Me in Work programme. They can save money, enhance their reputation and improve the working lives of every one of their employees."
See Me ambassador, Shiona McCallum, kept her experiences of PTSD to herself because she was worried about the impact it would have on her career and how people in work would react.
She explained: "I really struggled to cope with it and I didn't think people would listen properly and understand it, because on the outside everything looked normal. I spent a lot of time worrying.
"I had to eventually take time off work when everything got bad. I went over and over in my head, thinking my colleagues wouldn't understand why I was off, that my boss wouldn't get it and then I wouldn't be given any responsibility at work.
"I thought it would lead to a backwards step with my career because people would judge me."
When she did open up to her manager she received a positive response, recalling: "When I did tell my boss, she was very understanding, so I didn't experience the stigma from others, it was almost a stigma that I had self-imposed.
"There's still a lot to be done in the workplace so people don't feel like that."
See Me volunteer Tommy Kelly, from Ayrshire, said he had suffered discrimination at work because of mental health problems.
Tommy said: "To experience discrimination in work because of your mental health is horrible, it feels like you're going into a toxic environment every day. You worry what you are going to do and what people will think about you.
"I found it really hard to be heard because I didn't know who to reach out to. Experiencing discrimination can push you further into your illness, you start to believe it's your fault and you don't know where to go."
Ms Halliday said: "Mental health stigma and discrimination in the workplace often comes from a lack of knowledge. People can find that genuine problems are either belittled or not believed in the first place.
"People don't want to say how they are feeling as they're worried that their managers and colleagues will think less of them, they might lose their job, or be seen as inadequate and incompetent."