Creating a workplace culture of understanding, compassion, and practical assistance

WORKPLACE — Mental health challenges affect nearly one in five adults in any given year, making it highly likely that someone in your workplace is currently struggling. Yet stigma, fear of judgment, and concerns about professional consequences often prevent colleagues from seeking support or even acknowledging their difficulties .

The workplace can be either a source of additional stress or a vital source of support and stability for those experiencing mental health issues. Creating an environment where colleagues feel safe, understood, and supported requires intentional effort from everyone—managers, HR professionals, and coworkers alike. Here are ten meaningful ways to support colleagues experiencing mental health challenges.

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1. Educate Yourself About Mental Health

Support begins with understanding. Mental health exists on a spectrum, and everyone experiences fluctuations. Common conditions include anxiety disorders, depression, bipolar disorder, PTSD, and others—each presenting differently in different people.

Take time to learn:

• Basic symptoms of common mental health conditions
• The difference between temporary stress and clinical conditions
• That mental health challenges are not character flaws or personal weaknesses
• That recovery and effective management are possible with appropriate support
• How workplace factors can affect mental health positively or negatively

Organizations like Beyond Blue, Lifeline, and the Mental Health Foundation offer free resources and training. The more you understand, the better equipped you are to respond supportively .

2. Recognize Signs Without Playing Doctor

While you shouldn’t diagnose colleagues, recognizing potential signs of distress allows you to offer support. Changes to watch for include:

• Withdrawal from usual social interactions or team activities
• Decreased productivity or difficulty concentrating
• Increased absenteeism or lateness
• Uncharacteristic irritability, mood swings, or emotional responses
• Expressions of hopelessness, worthlessness, or excessive guilt
• Changes in appearance or self-care
• Difficulty making decisions or completing routine tasks
• Increased use of alcohol or other substances

These signs don’t definitively indicate mental health issues—they could stem from physical illness, relationship problems, or other stressors. The key is noticing changes and responding with care, not assumptions .

3. Create Psychological Safety for Disclosure

Colleagues will only share their mental health struggles if they feel safe doing so. You can foster psychological safety by:

• Speaking openly about mental health in non-stigmatizing ways
• Sharing (appropriately) your own experiences with stress or challenges
• Never using mental health terms as insults (“That’s so OCD,” “I’m so depressed about the weather”)
• Maintaining confidentiality when someone shares personal information
• Responding to disclosures with acceptance rather than judgment
• Avoiding pressure to share more than someone is comfortable with

When you model openness and acceptance, you signal that your workplace is a safe space for honest conversations .

4. Listen Without Judgment

When a colleague confides in you, how you listen matters enormously. Supportive listening means:

• Giving them your full attention without distractions
• Allowing them to share at their own pace without interruption
• Resisting the urge to offer solutions immediately
• Avoiding platitudes like “Just think positive” or “It could be worse”
• Not minimizing their experience with comparisons
• Reflecting back what you hear to ensure understanding
• Thanking them for trusting you

Powerful responses include: “Thank you for telling me. That sounds incredibly difficult. I’m here to listen however I can.” Sometimes the greatest gift is simply bearing witness to someone’s struggle without trying to fix it .

5. Maintain Confidentiality Rigorously

Trust is the foundation of any supportive relationship. If a colleague shares mental health information with you:

• Do not discuss it with anyone without explicit permission
• Ask how they want information handled before taking any action
• Be careful about written communications that might be seen by others
• Never share with curious coworkers, even with good intentions
• Understand any legal or policy obligations regarding disclosure (such as risk of harm)

The only exceptions to confidentiality involve imminent risk of serious harm. If you believe someone is in immediate danger, you may need to involve appropriate supports, but be transparent with your colleague about your concerns and intentions .

6. Offer Practical, Flexible Support

Mental health challenges make daily tasks harder. Practical support can make an enormous difference:

• Offer to help with overwhelming tasks: “Would it help if I reviewed that report before you send it?”
• Check in regularly: “Just thinking of you—no need to respond.”
• Include them in invitations while making clear there’s no pressure: “We’re getting coffee at 3 if you’d like to join, but no worries either way.”
• Offer flexibility with deadlines or meetings when you have authority
• Help problem-solve accommodations they might request from HR
• Remember important dates and follow up afterward (medical appointments, difficult anniversaries)

Small, consistent acts of support often matter more than grand gestures .

7. Watch Your Language

Words shape culture. The language we use about mental health either reduces stigma or reinforces it. Avoid:

• Using clinical terms as casual descriptors (“I’m so bipolar today”)
• Defining people by their conditions (“She’s a depressive”)
• Assuming visible disabilities are more legitimate than invisible ones
• Dismissive phrases like “snap out of it” or “mind over matter”
• Overly cheerful positivity that dismisses real struggle

Instead, use person-first language (“a person experiencing depression”), acknowledge the reality of the struggle while holding hope, and speak about mental health with the same respect you would physical health .

8. Be Patient With Fluctuations

Mental health is rarely linear. Good days and bad days alternate unpredictably. Someone who seemed fine yesterday may struggle today. Someone making progress may have setbacks.

Patience means:

• Not keeping score of someone’s functioning
• Avoiding comments like “But you seemed fine yesterday”
• Understanding that recovery and management take time
• Continuing to offer support even when progress seems slow
• Recognizing that visible improvement doesn’t mean all challenges have resolved
• Maintaining consistent support through ups and downs

True support doesn’t expire after a certain period or disappear when someone has a setback .

9. Know Your Resources and When to Refer

While your support matters, you are not a mental health professional. Know what resources exist and how to connect colleagues with them:

• Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) offering confidential counseling
• Workplace mental health first aiders or trained contacts
• HR policies regarding mental health leave and accommodations
• External resources like helplines, support groups, and crisis services
• Online mental health tools and apps recommended by professionals

When a colleague’s needs exceed your capacity to support, you can say: “I’m glad you’re sharing this with me. I also wonder if connecting with someone who has more expertise might be helpful. Would you like me to help you find EAP information?” .

Keep a list of resources accessible:

Australia:

• Lifeline: 13 11 14
• Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636
• Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467

International:

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (US): 988
• Samaritans (UK): 116 123

10. Advocate for Mentally Healthy Workplaces

Individual support matters, but systemic change creates safety for everyone. Consider advocating for:

• Regular mental health training for all staff and managers
• Clear policies supporting mental health leave and accommodations
• Workload management that prevents chronic stress
• Flexible work arrangements as standard options
• Regular check-ins that focus on wellbeing, not just productivity
• Mental health inclusion in diversity and inclusion initiatives
• Leadership modeling of healthy work boundaries
• Peer support programs and mental health first aiders

When workplaces prioritize mental health, everyone benefits—not just those currently struggling, but all employees who feel safer knowing support exists .

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What to Avoid: Well-Intentioned but Harmful Responses

Even with good intentions, some responses can cause harm. Avoid:

• Minimizing: “Everyone feels anxious sometimes. You’ll get over it.”
• Comparing: “At least you don’t have it as bad as X.”
• Advising without listening: “Have you tried yoga/meditation/exercise?”
• Taking over: Making decisions for someone rather than supporting their choices
• Gossiping: Discussing someone’s struggles with others
• Avoiding: Pretending nothing is happening or pulling away
• Over-functioning: Trying to be someone’s only support or savior

When in doubt, ask: “How can I best support you right now?” and respect whatever answer you receive .

The Power of Small Actions

Supporting a colleague with mental health challenges doesn’t require expertise or dramatic interventions. Often, the smallest actions matter most:

• A genuine “How are you, really?”
• Remembering something they mentioned and following up
• Including them without pressure
• Trusting them to know their own needs
• Showing up consistently over time

As one person with lived experience noted: “The colleagues who helped most weren’t the ones who tried to fix me. They were the ones who treated me exactly the same on my bad days as on my good days—with kindness, respect, and the assumption that I was doing my best.”

Creating a Culture of Care

When workplaces support mental health, everyone benefits. Productivity increases, turnover decreases, and workplace relationships strengthen. But beyond these business cases lies a more fundamental truth: we spend a third of our lives at work, and we all deserve to spend that time in environments where we can bring our whole selves—struggles included—and still feel valued.

By learning, listening, and showing up for colleagues experiencing mental health challenges, we don’t just help individuals. We build workplaces where humanity comes first, where struggle is met with support rather than stigma, and where everyone can thrive.

If you’re supporting a colleague with mental health issues, remember to care for yourself too. Supporting others takes emotional energy, and your own mental health matters. Reach out to your own supports, set boundaries, and seek guidance when you need it.