Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Challenges On the Rise for Workers—How Employers Are Stepping In

For Immediate Release
August 24, 2021

Brookfield, Wisconsin—In less than two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has created new mental health challenges or intensified existing issues for workers across the United States. Organizations are expanding and enhancing benefit offerings, according to a new report from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Benefits: 2021 Survey Results. The report reveals the prevalence of mental health and substance use disorder conditions, their impact on the workplace, and how employers are responding.

Mental Health/Substance Use Challenges on the Rise

When asked for a two-year comparison, 91% of employers say mental health/substance use disorder challenges among workers have significantly or somewhat increased. The majority (97%) of employers reported that their overall worker population is somewhat or very stressed now.

"Mental well-being was a big challenge before the COVID-19 pandemic, and concern is only growing as our worker populations deal with the continual unknowns of the pandemic," said Julie Stich, CEBS, Vice President of Content at the International Foundation. "Employers are working to effectively connect with and provide benefits for employees, from offering more digital tools to facilitating peer-support groups to expanding mental health crisis training initiatives."

Mental health benefits growing in popularity include access to online resources/tools (87% of employers offer), telepsychiatry treatment sessions (72% offer), and mental health crisis training (23% offer).

Prevalent Conditions

When asked to share the prevalence of several mental health/substance use disorders, the top five (either "very" or "prevalent") conditions employers are reporting include:

• Depression (52%)
• Anxiety disorders (49%)
• Sleep deprivation/disorders (32%)
• ADD/ADHD (23%)
• Alcohol addiction (17%).

"Because many employees are working from home, employers and co-workers aren't able to easily observe and monitor certain mental health/substance use conditions—They are easy to hide in a virtual working environment," said Stich.

Top Conditions Covered by Employers

Are the most prevalent conditions covered by employers? Here's what the survey report revealed:

• Depression—72% cover
• Anxiety disorders—69% cover
• Alcohol addiction—68% cover
• ADD/ADHD—57% cover
• Sleep deprivation/disorders—50% cover.

Other covered conditions include prescription drug addiction (63%), bipolar disorder (62%), eating disorders (61%), nonprescription drug addiction (60%), post-traumatic stress disorder (59%), autism (55%), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) (54%), and gambling addictions (36%).

Barriers and Solutions

"You'll notice that not all employers are covering the most prevalent mental health/substance use disorder conditions," noted Stich. Organizations reported many barriers in implementing/advancing mental health and substance use disorder initiatives, including worker fears and management concerns. Specifically, employers reported that workers fear that confidentiality may be breached or that admitting a problem may negatively impact their job security. Supervisors are reportedly uncomfortable addressing issues with workers and are concerned about breaching workers' privacy.

"How an employer overcomes these and other barriers is specific to their own organization. By communicating resources and benefits in place and continuing to destigmatize mental health and substance use disorders, organizations can support employees facing these issues with the hopes of preventing an even greater crisis from occurring," Stich suggests.

For more information on Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Benefits: 2021 Survey Results, visit www.ifebp.org/mentalhealth2021.

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The International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans is the premier educational organization dedicated to providing the diverse employee benefits community with objective, solution-oriented education, research and information to ensure the health and financial security of plan beneficiaries worldwide. The Foundation has more than 31,000 multiemployer, corporate and public sector members representing over 25 million lives. For additional information, visit www.ifebp.org.

Members of the media can obtain a complimentary copy of the report by contacting [email protected].