According to the Mental Health Index by Total Brain, the number of employed adults at risk for mental health conditions remained alarmingly elevated when comparing February, pre-pandemic, with June.
Decreasing mental health amid COVID-19 remains a very real concern; however, the June Index offered some good news. Between May 3 and June 28, 2020, against the backdrop of a reopening economy, the ending of the school year and a seemingly receding virus, the Mental Health Index showed a decrease in the number of women at risk for depressive disorder (27% down) and general anxiety disorder (20% down).
“It is not surprising that the renewed level of activities in June brought an improved environment for the mental health of American workers,” said Michael Thompson, President & CEO of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions (National Alliance). “However, we are seeing that this comes at a price as the virus reasserts itself in many parts of the country. The key going forward will be strategies that can mitigate both the virus and its indirect impact on the mental health of our workers.”
The Mental Health Index: U.S. Worker Edition is a monthly report put out by Total Brain, a leading mental health and brain performance self-monitoring and self-care platform. The Mental Health Index is distributed in partnership with the National Alliance, and One Mind at Work. Data is culled from clinically valid assessments using standardized, scientifically based digital tasks and questions from the Total Brain platform. To see the full Index results, visit here.
“The Mental Health Index gives business leaders and policy advocates a unique lens to examine the state of mental health among U.S. workers,” explained Louis Gagnon, CEO, Total Brain. “The numbers do not lie. There is a mental health crisis in our country and the data supports our case for increased attention on employee mental health among HR leaders.”
Garen Staglin, Chairman of One Mind at Work, commented, “The need to address workplace mental health has never been more important as the levels of anxiety, depression, PTSD and other mental health conditions are dramatically impacted by the continuing stress, uncertainty and economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. We hope that these insights will motivate everyone to increase their efforts to help employees and their families cope with this mental health crisis.”
For more information and additional insights on findings from the Mental Health Index, Total Brain, the National Alliance and One Mind at Work are hosting a complimentary webinar on Friday, July 17 at 12 p.m. ET. Speakers joining Gagnon, Thompson and Staglin are Colleen McHugh, executive vice president, American Health Policy Institute and Kafui Dzirasa, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke Psychiatry. To learn more and register here.
Methodology: The Mental Health Index: U.S. Worker Edition by Total Brain contains data drawn from a weekly randomized sample of 500 working Americans taken from a larger universe of Total Brain users. They include workers from all walks of life and regions, job levels, occupations, industries and types of organizations (public vs. private). The data is not survey data. It comes from a mix of validated tasks and questions that are part of a unique neuroscientific assessment of the Total Brain. The participant assessments used to compile the Mental Health Index were taken weekly from February 3 to June 28, 2020. The assessment questions are identical to Total Brain’s standard assessments.
