Managing Mental Health Challenges in Organizations: An Exploratory Study of the Problems of Misunderstanding, Invisibility and Responsibility

Abstract

Despite the increasing number of workers worldwide experiencing mental disorders, many organizations lack knowledge and understanding of how to support them effectively. We argue that this is partially a consequence of three problems surrounding the management of mental health in organizations: misunderstanding, invisibility, and responsibility. This study aims to overcome misconceptions attached to those problems by providing empirical evidence on three issues: a) experiencing mental health challenges leads to inevitably experiencing a disability? b) to what extent do organizations know about their employees’ mental health challenges? c) do mental problems preclude employees from thriving at work and enjoying work-life balance? To do so, we analyze the disclosure of mental health conditions and the levels of anxiety, depression, disabilities, thriving at work, and work-life balance in a sample of 212 employees with and without a diagnosis of mental disorder. Our findings challenge some preconceived notions as they suggest that: a) suffering from a mental disorder does not always lead to higher disabilities, and, on the contrary, even non-diagnosed employees may experience high degrees of disabilities; b) mental health challenges are still notably invisible within organizations; and c) there seems to be an inverse relationship between the severity of mental problems and the degree of thriving at work and work-life balance. Accordingly, we propose future research avenues and practical recommendations to address the problems of misunderstanding, responsibility, and invisibility. Received: 16 March 2024 / Accepted: 29 June 2024 / Published: 02 July 2024