Have you ever had a bad day? So bad that you didn’t want to get out of bed, let alone go to work, but you went anyway? You’re not alone. In fact, the World Health Organization states that over 264 million people worldwide are effected by depression and many of those deal with anxiety as well. If you decide to go to work despite these feelings of sadness or angst, you deserve the right to an environment that is safe and welcoming.
Sadly there are too many businesses and workplaces that are not set up for the success of you. These establishments, though many well intentioned, are sucking the life out of you; and costing them in lost productivity and revenue 💰.
This blog is focused on setting up a work environment that is safe, welcoming, and productive; for the sake of your sanity (employees) and revenue (employers). I talk about what science tells us about depression in the workplace, some personal and professional experiences, and if you read to the end, I have a special offering I’m excited about.
Key #1: Be Aware of What Depression Is
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Depression is diagnosed if a person experiences these symptoms for more than 2 weeks:⠀
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Feeling sad 😞 ⠀
Loss of interest in pleasure in activities previously enjoyed 😢 ⠀
Difficulty concentrating and making decisions 🤔 🧠 🛑 ⠀
Changes in appetite, overeating or not eating enough 😋 ⠀
Trouble sleeping, or sleeping too much 😴 ⠀
Fatigue 😓 ⠀
Restless activity (e.g., hand-wringing or pacing) or slowed movements and speech 🚶♀️ ⠀
Feelings of worthlessness or guilt 😢 ⠀
Thoughts of suicide or self-harm 🛑 ⠀
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If anyone you work with or is an employee of yours & they are exhibiting any of these warning signs, I encourage you to connect them to your EAP if available or have a conversation with them.
One thing I learned from a manager I appreciated was scheduled check-in one on one time. Amber (name adjusted for privacy) initially had us check in weekly when I first worked there. We didn’t see eye to eye from the get-go. I think she may have felt threatened from my list of accomplishments and my experience as a manager prior to, and now in a regular sales role. There was definitely tension that was uncomfortable. After a meeting with her and HR that I initiated she flipped 180 degrees in her approach. I was asked in this meeting how I wanted to be managed? I LOVED this question because I told her and the HR team that if you assume the best in me (both my actions and intentions) I will work harder than anyone you’ve ever managed.
I was new at the job (less than 30 days) & going to work & dealing with a suicide attempt by a family member out of the state. I was told I was going to be paid a certain amount and when I got paid half of what I was expecting to receive I couldn’t afford a flight to be with my family and it was keeping me up at night. I was trying to deal with it the best I could and give the best energy I could despite the circumstances going on at home.
I have asthma and one of my triggers is stress. The lack of sleep 😴 exacerbated my triggers as it made me more emotional and what not. I had an asthma attack at work and didn’t have any sick leave because I was new there & had attended sales conferences to be better at my job (with permission & approved for prior to being hired).
The company had established a policy that if you don’t have sick leave and you miss work, you get a warning, then written up & 3rd strike is you get fired. During this asthma attack I chatted with Amber explaining the situation (used my inhaler twice and it wasn’t getting any better after a couple hours). I did my entire masters project creating a musical about asthma awareness so I knew how important it was to get to a hospital quickly.
I knew I didn’t have sick leave because of the time off I had taken for the sales conferences. I was getting dizzy at this point and taking a lot longer to toggle between windows and what not. I knew I needed to get to a hospital but I didn’t want to get written up at work (I had taken a sick day earlier in the week because of the stress with my family member & a bullying incident with Amber making fun of me in front of our entire team).
I chatted on the messenger to Amber asking if she knew of a medical facility nearby in the chat and she said “nope you’ll have to find one yourself.” I asked if there was a doctor in the building? She said “no.” I asked then, “is there someone that can escort me to a clinic or hospital nearby?” She said, “no and you’ll need to use your 30 minute lunch for this otherwise you’ll be going against our work policy and I’ll have to follow the progressive steps.” So Amber basically wasn’t going to help me in an emergency and there were no doctors in the building, my car was a mile away, I was new to working in this area too. Great.
We had to park a distance away and take a shuttle to our office so I had to figure out the logistics of getting to a medical facility, find the closest one, get a LYFT ride there, and everything while maintaining my composure in the middle of my asthma attack.
At this point the lack of sleep and my frustration at the lack of support by Amber is getting the best of me. I’m calling clinics, finding out how many people are in line to find one to get back in a timely manner and at this point crying on the phone line. My co-workers are hearing everything going on. I’m trying to not freak out but we have cubicles and they’re hearing me say, “my manager is going to write me up if I don’t get back in 30 minutes, is there anyway you can move me up in line?” I didn’t want to miss work. I didn’t want to get written up. But this was just a stupid policy for people that skip work and play hooky. I was in an emergency.
She was following policy with me and pulled me into a private room and repeated what she had messaged me in the chat, “if you feel you need to leave work, you can use your 30 minute lunch to get to a medical facility and back clocked into work. But if you’re late I’ll have to write you up since this will be your second time.” She had already chatted me this information through our messenger app but felt it was necessary to repeat herself… IN THE MIDDLE OF MY ASTHMA ATTACK Like we’re talking, airways are tight, my chest is in pain, I could die, and you feel now is the best time to repeat yourself about the work sick leave policy? I was PISSED to say the least. I even repeated back to her what she said to clarify that I heard her correctly. “So you’re telling me right now in the middle of my asthma attack, that if the doctors don’t see me in 30 minutes or less and the ride in the Lyft takes longer than 30 minutes to get back up here 26 floors with the broken elevators and all these factors that are outside of my control, you’ll be writing me up?” She confirmed. I politely said, “this isn’t the best time for you to repeat me this information Amber.”
I emailed her boss and CC’d HR while waiting for my Lyft driver to pick me up and take me to the CARE Now Network. I explained in the email what had happened & that I needed to be moved to another team under a different manager immediately. This was the second incident of bullying and in an emergency, pardon my French, but this was F**D UP.
I kept in touch with them via email and the appointment took much longer than the 30 minutes because there were 4 people ahead of me and they needed to provide me a Nebulizer treatment and do some tests. I had to get a few prescriptions at the doctors as well. It was about 90 minutes. I told them I’d be willing to do my job on a different floor or in a different area if they would be willing to let me use another computer or space. HR and Amber’s boss wanted to meet with me when I returned.
In this meeting I had explained everything to them and the head of HR said to me, “we don’t have a computer in a different area that you can use because you’re not comfortable being around Amber. You can either go back to your desk or go home for the rest of the day. If you choose to go home, we will excuse you from being written up however you will be unpaid.”
I told them I felt this wasn’t fair because I had the right to work in an environment that I felt safe and told them I didn’t feel safe around her. I used words like “I feel this isn’t fair because.” I didn’t feel it was fair to have to go back and be around a person that could have let me die in front of her and she didn’t give a SH** about me. I said, “it’s not that I’m unwilling to work today. I didn’t want to miss any work because I am very driven to be successful. I just don’t feel safe around my current manager because of what happened today and because of a previous incident earlier in the week. I feel she is bullying and hates her life. I feel she is targeting me and I don’t deserve to be treated that way. No one does.”
HR said, “I see where you’re coming from and can appreciate your feelings. Why don’t you go home and rest because you’ve had a traumatic day. We all can meet tomorrow and try to work this out for the best of the company.”
I said, “what does work this out for the best of the company mean?”
HR replied, “we have to decide from a business stand point if keeping you here is something that makes sense because we can’t move you to another team as it would disrupt the culture here. We’ll talk things over as a team here and if you’re willing to compromise with Amber we might be able to find a solution together.”
I said I didn’t want to go home because I needed to make the money and also didn’t want to be fired over an incident that could have been preventable by a kind and compassionate manager.
HR insisted and I went home feeling so depressed, exhausted from the asthma attack and worried about losing my job. I had never been fired from any job ever. I had been laid off when times were tough in the economy and school districts had lost their budgets (former teacher), but never fired. HR had asked me to email over any remaining details if I wanted to add any more evidence to my side of the story. I emailed over the painful truth about my family member’s attempt and the frustration and stress I had about the financials. I let HR know that I had shared this information with Amber prior to so she should have been a little kinder considering the circumstances.
The next day I met with HR, Amber and her boss. I was so nervous to be around such an evil person. I prayed a lot the evening prior for peace and for a compassionate heart towards Amber. I had written out a few points of what I wanted changed and how I felt I was treated from Amber. I never got an apology from her specifically but she did admit that what she did wasn’t the best timing and wasn’t compassionate. She did acknowledge that the growth of the team happened so quickly it was a challenge for her and she was figuring out how to best manage in the way that people preferred to be managed.
I could have easily sued the company for her actions and probably be a millionaire from this incident. However, that’s the easy way out. I am kind to my core. I see the good in people, even Amber. I told her that I see the good in you and I know you have great points as a manager. I told her, I’m not after your job, my vision is to help end depression world wide and help prevent suicides worldwide. I said, I think we got off on the wrong foot because you didn’t know why I’m here and assumed when I needed to take some sick leave that I don’t want to be here. They asked me to share why I work there and what gets me excited every day.
I got to share the story of Move Happy and how I lost my father but something beautiful came about. I got to share with them how one of my patients in my Move Happy Program was a former United States Marine and high level executive in charge of over 150-200 people prior to his hospital admittance. His encouragement to me that my program would “be on TV someday,” and “Erin you need to share this” was one of the strongest memories that keeps me progressing. I told them I come to work everyday to fund my passion and my life mission. I told them about my podcast and how I have had celebrities, CEOs of billion-dollar companies, and other amazing leaders say YES to being interviewed by me on the first attempt. I told them and especially Amber, “if you assume the best in me and demonstrate that you care about me as a person first, and the work policy second, that I’ll give you more effort than anyone here.” Additionally, I informed her what science says regarding feedback to individuals if she indeed wanted her team to improve in sales and be consistent in their behavior. At first she argued but when you say things like “I can appreciate where you’re coming from and I felt that way too, however what literature continues to demonstrate is beginning feedback with a positive include a constructive in the middle and end with a positive, you’ll get way more effort and long term behavior change from anyone in any situation including your children.”
HR, Amber and Amber’s Boss agreed that we could find a way to work together, they decided to pay me for the time I was at the medical clinic and the time they asked me to go home. It was very kind of them to offer that, and it helped smooth things over in my soul as well.
From that day forward, the goal of our one on one meetings was first check in with me as a person, then how I felt I was performing in my position (sales), then finally what I felt I needed to improve on, then she’d add her perspective if she thought of more ways to improve. I appreciated this because she focused on me as a person first and how I was doing in life in and out of work, then the job. Because of that focus, I gave more effort to my job than I would have had she only cared about the work performance and following policy.
If you’re reading this Amber, thank you for changing your approach with me 💜.⠀
Additionally, the entire team came to me privately and said thank you for standing up for yourself because we’ve been feeling this way too. I noticed a change in Amber’s approach with the entire team and although I didn’t stay there forever, it felt good to know I helped improve her behavior as a manager which positively impacted the culture of our entire organization. No matter what your role is in your job, home life, or sport/activity. You have power within you. Choose to use your power for good and watch how many lives can be positively impacted.
Key #2: Know Why Employers Should Care About The Wellbeing of Their Employees⠀💰 💴 💵 ⏰
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Why Should Employers Care About Employees With Depression? ⠀
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According to the American Psychiatric Association, it is costing an estimated $40 billion annually in lost productivity to employers in the USA 🇺🇸. The World Health Organization estimates that $1 Trillion annually is lost in productivity due to depression and anxiety specifically.⠀
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Mental illness is not only an individual’s problem. It’s a social issue that we all need to be more aware about and supportive about.⠀
Those in work environments that have terrible cultures (bullying, HR not finding solutions, employees not talking to HR about their issues, mean bosses, etc) are at the highest risk of sick days being used and lost productivity from employees. Lost productivity means a loss to potential revenue 💰.
If you are an owner or CEO of a business, your entire purpose of existence in the company is to keep it running to not survive but to thrive right? Everything in your company is a result of your leadership. Culture starts from the top. Create the best culture possible and your business will not only survive, it will thrive and be looked at from other businesses as an example to learn from.
Take a look at some of the largest businesses in the world today and their cultures. Google has options for people to bring their childrento work, their pets, take naps in break rooms, have free healthy snacks, and are generally focused on letting employees know they are the most important thing keeping the company running profitably (happy employee = successful business). Starbucks is another company that has set the bar high for company culture. They call all their employees partners and provide them with a free coffee on their work shift and a free food item. They also pay for their college business classes in some instances and consider them as partners in growing the business. When you treat people as equals instead of a subordinates, their work productivity goes up!
Key #3: Understand The Global Prevalence Of Depression If Your Company Plans To Be Diverse in Any Capacity
How many people are diagnosed with depression worldwide? According to the World Health Organization as of May of 2019, there are an estimated 264,000,000 people of all ages who suffer from depression globally. Many of these diagnosed have full-time jobs, some multiple full time jobs, go to college/university, are children, or elderly. That is just people diagnosed. Without an individual disclosing their private medical information with you, you might not know they struggle with depression (unless you pay attention to the warning signs and have a culture that makes people feel safe to be authentic and vulnerable).
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A few years ago I had to leave my job at the psych hospital for unforeseen reasons. I loved working there but when my promotion was canceled due to state budget cuts and my engagement fell through, I had to make more income than what I was making; and I needed to not be reminded by patients every day asking how my wedding plans were going.
So I got into outside sales. During my interview process I met with the regional sales manager in charge of like 4 or 5 states of revenue for this particular company.⠀
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He asked me what my life purpose was about and my Move Happy World Tour plans were about. He really cared about getting to know me to make sure it would be a good culture fit for their team and for me.
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I told him about my vision to help people with depression worldwide and to help empower them, end the stigma, save lives, etc etc.⠀
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He told me, “Erin, no matter how long you work with this company, I encourage you to keep going with this passion. I lost both my brothers to suicide and the world needs more people like you.”⠀
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Thanks regional manager for that nudge and encouragement.⠀
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Businesses need more leaders like this to encourage their employees to look beyond the paycheck. Set a time for employees to focus on why they work there. If they are only capable themselves of things like “so I can get a paycheck,” teach them by demonstration of your own vision of the company and why you work there. People follow leaders that are clear on where they are headed and communicate it well. People leave companies that don’t have good leadership in some fashion. When people consistently leave your company, that costs you time and money in training new employees to do the job. If you don’t fix the root of the problem, you’ll continue to have this negative cycle of hiring, training, working, firing/employee quitting, and repeat.
I left this particular position because my direct manager threatened our team by saying things on our lunch break like, “man if your numbers aren’t meeting the company goals they’re downsizing our team, they’ll just cut one of you loose.”
I was exceptional in this role. I was doing above and beyond the activity required by the company and he loved my work ethic. He’d say things like, “man I wish the rest of the team was like you” or “I saved the other manger’s butt from getting fired” to me like I was his co-manager.
When enough poisonous comments to the team were said out of his mouth, I knew this manager didn’t have our best interest in mind. He may have meant well and thought it would motivate us to work harder.
During one of our ride along days, I had one on one time with him. He told me he used to own his own company but “sold that bitch.” I asked him what got him into it and what made him want to leave it? He said, “you can’t trust employees. They’re after your money and don’t have good work ethic. I had to keep hiring and firing all the time and finally had to do a lot of projects myself to get the work done well.”
I thought to myself, isn’t this interesting that he didn’t take any responsibility for the business and for hiring these people? You choose who you bring into your team as a business owner. If you continue to hire people that “can’t be trusted” and don’t have a good work ethic, perhaps you lack the work ethic too and are expecting too much and training too little?
I asked him some more questions about his experience in management with the company and how he liked it instead of running his business. He said he started in a different department with the company and moved over to the new department because of his success in sales. He was top sales here and top sales there and won all of these sales awards so they promoted him to management. What he didn’t like he said was that he didn’t get to choose who he hired and that he’d weed out the people that wouldn’t perform by making it uncomfortable for them to come to work. He said he’d make them want to do anything but sales if they didn’t perform. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
As a former teacher, and naturally an encourager, I thought to myself is this really happening? Is this person my superior and sharing with me that he’s an actual asshole and creates environments where employees don’t feel welcome if they don’t perform to his expectations? Yuck 🤢. As a leader who constantly wants to improve my leadership skills, I feel it is my responsibility to help guide and teach others how I want my company to be run. I would never create a poisonous environment where people don’t trust each other. How would this benefit leadership, let alone profit? It literally made me sick to my stomach that someone would be esteemed in this company’s leadership as someone to learn from. Ick.
So I quit. I was performing high and would probably be making 6+ figures had I stayed. It didn’t sit right with me to be led by someone like that. It just so happened to be right around the time my brother was going through a huge transition and lived across the country without family support close by. So I took a pay cut to work remotely and moved across the country the next month. Had this manager been more supportive and not fear based to the team, I might never have moved. I am grateful for this tough experience because it showed me how not to lead others.
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Key #4: Know Which Gender Is MOST Affected By Depression⠀
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According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), woman are most affected compared to men by 7:1. Depression is more than twice as prevalent in young women than young men (14-25yr). Starting at puberty, young women are at the greatest risk for major depression and all mental health disorders globally. Prior to puberty the risk is about equal or a little higher risk for boys. At 65yrs and older the rates of depression seem to decrease and are about equal between men and women. In Canada in 2007, women were prescribed anti depressants twice as much as men (ages 25-44). The article also states this is after the onset of diagnosis. Meaning, many young adults are not being treated for their diagnosis between 14-25 years. EEK 😬. If you employ people between 14-25, be especially compassionate as they may have depression and are not being properly treated.
The article talks about the potential reasons why women are the most affected by depression. Hormonal changes during ovulation, internalizing symptoms vs externalizing symptoms, and the difference in estrogen vs testosterone. It is a very interesting read.
Of course these are potential reasons for the differences. In my professional experience in the psychiatric hospital, a high percent of the patients we worked with were men diagnosed with schizophrenia & many were also diagnosed with major depression.
In my particular hall, it was the long term stay (180 day commitment or longer). Some were there for 30+ years. Some of them had committed crimes and were there for legal purposes. Many were not able to stand trial for their offenses because of their mental illness. At a certain time frame the law protects the patient that may or may not have committed a crime from standing trial.
Because rumors spread everywhere even in a psych hospital, many of the patients believed they would live at the hospital indefinitely. No one wants to live in a locked facility forever with 2 scheduled outside breaks a day. So many of them were laying on the ground in the hall during our break between treatment groups. They had their heads down, depressed, tired from the meds and bored from being in the locked facility. Most of the patients were men despite the fact that women are diagnosed 7:1 with mental illness compared to men. That being said, it could be possible that women seek treatment before depression gets too far advanced.
According to WorkplacesRespond.org, 24 percent of workplace violence occurs as a result of personal relationships. The article further states that 4 to 5 women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends everyday in the United States. Many of these incidences spill over into the workplace. The article further states that domestic violence is attributed to the loss of 32,000 full-time jobs of productivity in the workplace.
Although more women are diagnosed with depression & seek treatment, we should all do our part globally to be kind to everyone. You never know what a person is going through, & it could also positively impact your businesses’ bottom line 💰.
Move Happy Updates
The Move Happy Movement Podcast© is in full swing for 2020! Tomorrow I’ll be releasing my 33rd episode with a very special Disney guest. If you haven’t listened yet, you can check it out on iTunes or Podbean. If you are one of my 384 listeners since I started only a couple months ago, thank you for your support 🙏. If you enjoy it, I’d so appreciate a review and like on iTunes and a subscribe so it helps increase my listenership. If you hate it, let me know too and I’ll work on improving it. I want to add value in every way I deliver content to you.
If you’re a leader in mindset, community, or fitness and would like to be on the show, feel free to email me -subject line “I want to be on your podcast” and provide a brief background to me and what kind of value you’d bring to my audience.
Key #5: Know When To Seek External Resources For Mental Health In The Workplace
How Can Move Happy® Help Businesses With Lost Productivity and Too Many Sick Days? Rolling out very soon is a workshop I’ve designed for the workplace called “Work Happy: The Practical Tools For Effective and Inclusive Workplaces©” ⠀
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Employees will benefit from this because the workshop is designed with you as the main focus in a positive manner. Employers will benefit from this because people that are cared for work harder and take less sick days, thus increasing your bottom line 💰. The workshop includes a follow up refresher (2 days total).
I believe wholeheartedly in this workshop and my ability to increase your companies’ productivity and decrease sick days that I am guaranteeing 100 percent money back. If after the follow up refresher (3-6 months from initial workshop date) and full application of the skills you learned, you don’t feel your business has improved in productivity and revenue, I’ll give you your money back. Why am I taking such a big risk? Because my reputation and integrity are everything to me. I will never take from someone and run. It’s out of alignment with my life purpose and my values. Plus, I’m really good at bringing people together and making people feel welcomed (its one of my genius skills), thus getting them to perform at high levels.
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Email me – subject “Workplace Workshop Interest” to get on the waiting list. Provide me a brief summary of the issues you’d like turned around in your workplace, your role, who are the key leaders at your workplace that make the final decision and their contact info (if applicable), size of your organization, and name of the EAP you’re associated (if applicable).
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The first 5 companies/organizations that sign up in January receive 50% savings. The workshop cost varies depending on the size of your organization & in person or online. Small organizations (5 or less employees) that want the training done online will cost less than larger companies that want an in person training because I customize this workshop to fit your business needs specifically by sending a questionnaire to every person that works at your organization. The larger the organization, the more time it’ll take me to provide an effective workshop.
Once launched the Work Happy: The Practical Tools For Effective and Inclusive Workplaces© Workshop will start at $1,997 (plus travel and accommodations). That’s only $333 each for you and your team of 5 to be able to improve the productivity, improve the culture, and decrease the sick time utilized. Your business deserves to grow and your team deserves the best culture possible. I believe I can help cultivate that with you.
Have a larger organization? No problem, email me the details requested and I’ll work with your organization to provide a meaningful experience for your team and a profitable experience for your bottom line.
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As always, when you purchase from Move Happy®: ⠀
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💜 30 percent goes back to mental health research of your choice or if you don’t have one in mind, it’ll automatically go to our partner and ⠀
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♥️ 10 percent to your local Big Brothers and Big Sisters chapter and if you don’t have a local chapter it’ll go to your countries’ chapter or one of your choice⠀
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💜 or you can select all 40 percent to go towards the Move Happy World Tour 1.0© Experience⠀
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Looking forward to hearing from you!⠀
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So there you have it folks. In a nut shell, depression affects a large portion of us in the work place and at home, approximately 264,000,000 globally. Most are diagnosed between 14-25 years. People with depression can work hard or even harder than their co-workers when provided with a culture that feels welcomed and safe. Women are 7:1 times more likely to be diagnosed with depression and seek preventative treatment (i.e. meds, therapy, exercise). Workplaces that don’t provide cultures that are welcome and safe are losing an estimated $1 trillion annually in productivity worldwide. Sick time is more prevalent in businesses that don’t provide accommodations for those with depression and anxiety. Conversations need to be started, actions need to be taken to change this. It’s time for us to have less bad days and more enjoyable days & make work a place we look forward to going to.
Thank you for taking the time to read this today. If you found any value in this blog I’d appreciate it if you’d share it with a friend, DM or Email me what you learned and how you’re going to use the information to make our world better.
PS: Don’t forget to tell someone you love them today
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