Working Through Change: Workplace Health and Wellness Guide

On this page:

• Introduction
• Mental Health, Addictions and Substance Use Health Stigma in the Workplace
• Resources

Introduction

Mental health and safety in the workplace are just as important as physical health and safety. Employers across all workplaces need to consider the mental well-being of staff and there are great resources to support this. The National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace provides all workplaces with guidance and best practices. Within the Standard, there are 13 factors that contribute to a mentally healthy workplace. These factors have been broken down into easy-to-understand information and videos that you can view on our haveTHATtalk webpage. We encourage both employers and employees to learn more about the factors that contribute to a healthy workplace so that we can move forward in ways that prioritize health and safety while also being psychologically healthy and safe.

This guide was created to better support mental health and wellness at work, especially during times of change. It is always important to promote mental health and safety in the workplace, but changes and transitions at work can present added stress that requires a specific focus.

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Mental Health, Addictions and Substance Use Health Stigma in the Workplace

Before we get into the employee and employer sections of this guide, we must first discuss the important topic of stigma. 

What is stigma? Stigma refers to negative attitudes (prejudice) and negative behaviours (discrimination) toward people. It includes having fixed ideas and judgements about people or groups of people. Individuals can experience stigma for a variety of reasons: gender, race, sexuality, age, illness, etc. Stigma can affect access to work and housing, prevent people from getting the support they need and can also prevent them from seeking health care.

It prevents people from telling the people closest to them in their life what they are going through, perhaps that they are struggling, and this takes away vital support that is needed to get help and stay well. We know that the sooner someone gets help, the better the outcome, so here are things we can do to prevent stigma in the workplace and community:

• Use person first language. This means acknowledging someone as a person before describing personal attributes or health conditions. This respects the person’s worth and dignity, promotes help-seeking behaviour and it avoids perpetuating negative stereotypes.
• Correct myths, rumours and stereotypes to ensure that people have the correct information and are not causing panic and fear as well as contributing to more stigma.
• Avoid use of language that blames, shames or isolates individuals due to health conditions.
• Explore your own feelings about a topic: Do you have biases that you developed in your family, perhaps from your parents or friends?
• Learn more from trusted websites such as the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and CAPSA.

Here are some examples of stigmatizing versus respectful person first language:

Being aware of how our words affect others may seem small, but it has a large impact. It takes time to break old speech patterns but the benefits of using non-stigmatizing language are worth the effort. Using respectful, non-judgmental language demonstrates an understanding of others’ reality, even if you haven’t experienced it.

For more information on reducing stigma, please check out this video on mental health stigma and this video on reducing stigma towards addiction and substance use health.

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Resources