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Two-thirds of human resource professionals believe that substance abuse is one of the most serious issues among the workforce (data from a survey conducted by the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation).
About 1 in 5 adults experience a mental illness each year (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Which means that if your company has 100 employees, about 20 are likely dealing with a mental health condition this year.
You may care deeply for those hurting people, but what do you do if you suspect someone at work is struggling?
You have a choice to make. The easy approach is to do nothing; that’s what most people choose. But is that the right thing to do? What if you were the manager or coworker of this person …
“Years after that meeting and after going through recovery, I still thought about that executive and my former manager. I wondered if they knew I had issues with alcohol but felt they couldn’t say anything about it. Who knows, maybe if I could have opened up and they had urged me to get help, things would had turned out differently—better—than they did.”
That incident actually happened to someone I know, and those are her words. The sobering reality is many similar stories take place all the time when someone in the workplace suspects a coworker is hurting but makes a choice: to do nothing.
Making a Choice
If you think someone at work is struggling with a mental health or substance issue, there are several choices you can make:
- Do nothing – Most people avoid uncomfortable situations, and they may rationalize lots of good-sounding reasons why doing nothing makes sense. But if someone you know has an addiction or mental health problem, it will often get worse. Is it the right thing for you to do nothing as that happens?
- Do the wrong thing – Occasionally, when people encounter someone who is struggling, they may react in self-righteous judgment and heap shame on them for their behavior. Behavioral health issues, however, are often complicated. Attacking someone who is struggling will likely cause them to retreat into deeper shame and denial.
- Do the business thing – If you are the person’s manager, you may need to counsel them, create an improvement plan, and monitor their performance. But also consider the bigger picture of what’s at stake: their career, their well-being, their family, and their life. Instead of looking for a way to get rid of the problem, think about what you can do to support them.
- Do the right thing – How you address it makes a difference. You can’t fix someone with a serious issue, but you can help.
When someone at work has a behavioral heatlh problem, you have an opportunity to serve and help them, but you may be unsure of what to do. You may wonder, “What is doing the right thing?”
Doing the Right Thing
In those uncomfortable situations, what is the right thing to do? You can be there for them, and here are ideas to consider:
- Be available – Spend time with them, including face to face versus through only email or texts. Ask how they are doing, and then listen. Be their friend for a while and see what happens.
- Be aware – Look for what’s really going on below the surface. Show genuine empathy and seek to see their world through their eyes. Do what you can to meet them where they are.
- Be authentic – Be vulnerable and share a struggle you have gone through. By so doing, you can lessen the shame they may be feeling and begin to help them right where they are.
- Be trustworthy – Be understanding and supportive and help them move toward safety. Keep what they say confidential, but don’t enable them or cover up for their work performance. If you are their manager, talk to them about what is going on and set clear expectations, but do so with grace and compassion and support them in taking steps to get better.
- Be helpful – Help them understand that we all have issues and encourage them to find the hope and courage to take a positive step. Urge them to see a counselor or go to a recovery meeting. Point them to helpful information such as these articles: “Prevention Can Be Learned;” “How to Prevent Addiction;” and “Dealing with Workplace Stress.”
If you suspect someone at work has a behavioral health problem, you have a choice to make. You also have a responsibility: to consider the big picture and do the right thing. You will likely feel uncomfortable about what to do. Sometimes doing the right thing feels that way, but if you muster the compassion and courage to take a step forward, you can make a difference.
You can’t fix them, but you can help. Take it a step at a time and start by being there for them.
