Workplace Mental Health- The 360 Degrees solution

Photo by Dan Meyers on Unsplash

The objective of the July monthly meeting of NHRD Bangalore chapter held on 27th June 2024 at the St Josephs Institute of Management, was  to have a comprehensive discussion on holistic approaches to workplace mental health. The presentation on the subject was made by a team of doctors from the Fortis hospital Group Bangalore, which included Dr Kamna Chhibber, Head Mental Health, Dr Sachin Baliga, Psychiatrist, Dr Samir Parikh, Chairman, Fortis National Mental Health Program and Mr Saurav Banerjee Founder & CTO. The discussion was moderated by Ms Divya Jain. In this blog I will cover the gist of the evening's proceedings rather than dwell on who said what.

In his welcome note, Mr Akshay Oleti, the Vice President and Business Head of Fortis Hospitals Bangalore gave general information on the facilities offered by Fortis in its 5 locations in Bangalore (Bannerghatta road, Cunningham road, Nagarbhavi, Rajajinagar and Richmond road) together offering a capacity of 400 beds. The hospitals has state of the art infrastructure, 150 expert doctors, 800 para medical staff and provide super specialty care.

In the contemporary times we live in,  stress and anxiety have increased manifold times. Around 15% of the workforce have mental health issues. Yet, mental health is not discussed as much as it should be . Mental health issues impact productivity in a big way. Globally, around 12 billion working days are lost annually due to depression & anxiety alone. In terms of productivity the loss is 1 trillion $ US annually. 

Different people show different signs of mental ill health. What may seem an ordinary issue to one person may matter a lot to another. Some of the matters that can adversely affect one's mental health are a break up, loss of a loved one, financial crisis/ loss of job etc. What we need to do is to look out for signs. Has the person become more withdrawn, irritable or snappy of late? Is he/she taking more offs from work? , not contributing as earlier or not as energetic ? Look- Listen- and Link.  

Look out for signs such as any change in the way of communicating or a change in the problem solving approach or whether the person has become more pessimistic. Once the signs are noticed, the next step is to ask relevant open ended questions and listen actively to understand the underlying problem. "I notice you are not active as before, is there anything that is bothering you?".    

The next important step in the process is to link the employee to the right resource that can address it. This could be linking to a friend, colleague, senior manger, an inhouse counsellor or an external expert. Employees are more engaged when they feel that the system is interested in them - that the employer and the system cares. Actively listening, removing blame from the conversation, respecting ideas, encouraging free & open conversation, providing support and showing appreciation are all important elements of the process. An important question that needs to be asked is "What can I do in this regard?" to support the employee.  

In the case of physical health issues, the problem is obvious as  it manifests in forms such as physical pain or difficulty to breathe. This may not be the case of mental health issues where the disability may be invisible, not immediately known to the patient or to the others around. Add to this aspects such as social stigma and the matter gets more complicated with the person reluctant to come out with his/her problems. These days we also have to deal with this phenomenon of "Toxic Positivity" with pressure on people to project only one emotion namely 'Happiness'. All other emotions are muted or swept under the carpet or such emotions are not taken seriously even if expressed. 

When mental issues are not taken seriously or addressed, it could take the form of serious mental illness (SMI) with symptoms from loss of sleep, loss of appetite, depression, disruption of day to day life, not able to take care of self, cause harm to self and others (5% of the population of patients are known to cause harm). Patients may have feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness and a lack of will to live. 25% of patients diagnosed with mental illness  also have diabetes. The symptoms of 30% of the patients worsened during the Covid period. It is important to take your problem seriously and discuss them openly. It is also important to be active, maintain activities and ensure that there is no relapse of the issue. Early identification and intervention is key for effective resolution of mental health issues. 

During the presentation, it was pointed out that today we have the advantage of  artificial intelligence (AI) for early screening and for recommending appropriate solutions for the patients such as  whether expert help is necessary at a particular stage. The process involved here is Awareness- Screening- Guidance.

Work place psychiatry has increasingly become important on account of the rising pressure on employees at the workplace with each passing year. A market study was mentioned, according to which as many as 40% of employees are considering putting in their papers due to their inability to cope up with the pressure of work. Toxic work culture is driving attrition.

Use of AI has become inevitable as the existing number of  mental health professionals are inadequate to deal with the 950 million population of the workforce. By the screening process done by AI, the mental health professional can concentrate on serving the 15% of employees who require clinical management. AI also makes possible repetition of screening and follow up. 

In the absence of this technology, one would have to make do with self management which would be very inadequate given the complications of SMI (Serious mental illness) discussed earlier. The AI chatbot Stella used by Fortis hospital gives nonjudgmental  empathy at the first level. It engages with the client to understand his/her intent, with 95% accuracy. It is found that after screening, intervention becomes necessary in approximately 1 out of 22 persons. 

This evidence based self help makes available affordable access to mental health at the workplace. The objective is to reach maximum people by a standardized process with the help of AI. The technology enables clinicians to better explain the reasons for coming to an assessment. The interaction with Stella can be done in your mother tongue or preferred language . Further, in view of the DPDP Act of 2023 the privacy of digital personal data protection is also ensured. 

The entire gamut of the treatment process of mental health includes (1) Self management (2) Screening (3) Clinical management and (4) Relapse management. Today a very effective 360 degrees solution is available with help from the latest technology of AI. The evening interaction was very informative  and enlightening for me. 

It is hoped that the readers would also find reading this blog a rewarding experience.