Get the Facts

​ Defining Mental Illness / Prevalence
  • Mental illness refers to a wide range of mental health conditions — conditions that affect your mood, thinking and behavior
  • Every year, 20-25% of the adult US population suffers from some mental illness
  • Mental illness and substance abuse disorders represent the top 5 causes of disability among people age 15-44 in the United States and Canada (not including disability caused by communicable diseases)
  • 6-7% of full-time workers have experienced a Major Depressive Disorder in the past year
    • Chance of absenteeism and presenteeism = 48-50%
    • Comorbid medical / prescription expenditures = 45-47%
Costs of mental illness
  • In 2012, U.S. non-institutionalized spending on mental illness amounted to $80 billion
  • Serious mental illness results in $193 billion lost earnings each year in the U.S
  • Mental illness causes more days of work loss and work impairment than many other chronic conditions such as diabetes, asthma, and arthritis
  • More workers are absent from work because of stress and anxiety than because of physical illness or injury
  • Approximately 217 million days of work are lost annually due to productivity decline related to mental illness and substance abuse disorders
  • The total average medical and pharmacy costs of those diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder was found to be more than 2 times higher than the others in the insured member population
  • People with untreated mental illness use non-psychiatric in patient and outpatient services 3x more than those who are treated
  • Medication and psychotherapy enhance – but do not replace – each other
Impact on chronic medical issues
  • Depressed patients are 2x as likely to have a heart attack than the general population
  • Patients who have suffered from a heart attack and have treatment for depression have shown lower mortality and re-hospitalization rates
  • People with mental health issues are 2x as likely to smoke cigarettes than others
  • Patients with mental illness and substance abuse disorders are often less responsive to treatment. For example, depressed patients are three times as likely as non-depressed patients to be non-compliant with their medical treatment regimen
  • Access to specialty behavioral healthcare services is critical to delivering effective disease management services for high cost chronic medical problems
Workplace Wellbeing (WWB) Value
  • WWB interventions have been shown to produce rapid improvements in work performance such as having fewer days late or absent, higher levels of work productivity, and improved work team relations
  • Employees who completed at least one session with a mental health provider had a statistically significant improvement in work performance
  • Employee absenteeism was reduced to only 0.91 days of unscheduled absences or tardy days after completing use of the WWB services, from an average of 2.37 days in the prior 30-day period before using the WWB services
  • More results showed that disability claims for behavioral health concerns were 17 days shorter at the high-use WWB companies than at the non-WWB companies (56 days vs. 73 days)
  • Dozens of applied studies have demonstrated that WWB services can produce positive returns for purchasers in direct cost savings from reduced medical, disability, and workers’ compensation claims and even more savings from reducing indirect business cost losses related to poor work performance
  • After being on an Short-Term Disability (STD) leave, employees who had used the WWB were about twice as likely to return to the workforce compared to employees who did not use the WWB (33% returned vs. 16%)
  • Only 2% of employees using the WWB had a disability claim that converted to Long-Term Disability (LTD) benefits, whereas 9% of those who did not use an WWB program had gone on to use LTD benefits. (The Hartford Group, 2007)
  • The typical ROI is $3 or more for every $1 dollar invested in WWB services
  • According to the National Business Group on Health, “a well-run WWB program will provide a positive return on investment”
References
  • American Psychiatric Foundation, Partnership for Workplace Mental Health. (2006). A mentally healthy workforce - it’s good for business. Retrieved from: http://www.workplacementalhealth.org/Business-Case/The-Business-Case-Brochure.aspx?FT=.pdf
  • Blum, T., & Roman, P. (1995). Cost –effectiveness and preventive implications of Employee Assistance Programs. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
  • Bureau of Economic Analysis (2008 & 2012)
  • Collins, K. M. (1998). Cost/benefit analysis shows EAP’s value to employer. EA PA Exchange, 28(12), 16-20.
  • Hargrave, G. E., Hiatt, D., Alexander, R., & Shaffer, I. A. (2008). EAP treatment impact on presenteeism and absenteeism: Implications for return on investment. Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health, 23(3), 283-293.
  • Harlow, K.C. (2006). The effectiveness of a problem resolution and brief counseling EAP intervention. Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health, 22(1), 1-12.
  • Harris, S. M., Adams, M., Hill, L., Morgan, M., & Soiz, C. (2002). Beyond customer satisfaction: A randomized EAP outcome study. Employee Assistance Quarterly, 17(4), 53-61. 24
  • Healbright. How mental health impacts healthcare costs. (November 12, 2016). Retrieved from: http://www.benefitnews.com/whitepaper/how-mental-health-impacts-healthcare-costs
  • Hertz, R.P., Baker, C.L. (2002) The impact of mental disorders on work. Pfizer Outcomes Research. Publication No. P0002981. Pfizer.
  • Insel, T. (April 27, 2005). Research conducted for the National Institutes of Health. Statement for fiscal year 2006 theme hearing on substance abuse and mental health research and services. Witness appearing before the House Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations. Tom Insel, MD; Director of the National Institute of Mental Health.
  • Kessler, R.C., Greenberg, P.E.. Mickelson, K.D., Meneades, L.M., Wang, P.S. The effects of chronic medical conditions on work loss and work cutback. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2001; 43(3): 218-225.
  • Leopold, R. (2003). A Year in the Life of a Millions American Workers. MetLife Group Disability. New York, New York: Moore Wallace; 2003.
  • LEWIN Group. (April 8, 2005). Design and administration of mental health benefits in employer sponsored health insurance – A literature review. Prepared for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
  • McLeod, J., & McLeod, J. (2001). How effective is workplace counseling? A review of the research literature. Counseling Psychotherapy Research, 1(3), 184-191.
  • Milliman, Inc. NY. (July, 2013). Major depressive disorder: An actuarial commercial claim data analysis. Prepared for Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A, Inc. and Lundbeck LLC.
  • Selvik, R., Stephenson, D., Plaza, C., & Sugden, B. (2004). EAP impact on work, relationship, and health outcomes. Journal of Employee Assistance, 34(2), 18-22.
  • The Employee Assistance Trade Association (EASNA) (2015). www.easna.org / 8
  • Rothermel S, Slavit W, Finch RA, et al. (2008). Center for Prevention and Health Services. An Employer’s Guide to Employee Assistance Programs: Recommendations for Strategically Defining, Integrating and Measuring Employee Assistance Programs. Washington, DC: National Business Group on Health; December 2008.
  • The Hartford Group (2007).