Facts to Consider
- Depression and/or anxiety affect over 20 million Americans annually.
- The estimated economic burden of depression is well north of $55 billion/year.
- About half of all visits to primary care physicians are due to conditions caused or exacerbated by mental or emotional issues.
- At work, psychological problems account for well over 60% of absences, 80% of terminations and 90% of industrial accidents.
- Unscheduled absenteeism costs employers as much as $688/employee/year.
- Drug/Alcohol-dependent employees incur 300% higher medical costs and benefits.
Questions to Consider
- What, for example, is the value of preventing one terminated employee from perpetrating an act of violence?
- What is the value of bolstering a faltering CEO who’s impaired by alcohol abuse, stress or depression?
- What is the value of offering immediate assistance to a group of bank tellers who have just been robbed at gunpoint?
- What is the value identifying and treating a doctor or nurse who has developed a dependence on narcotic painkillers?
- What is the value of retaining a valued senior-staff member whose burnout and stress have brought her to the verge of quitting?