Legal & General : Research Shows Most Employees will Discuss Mental Health Issues with someone, but Rarely Their Employer

20 February 2017

• Less than 10% of employees who have experienced depression, unacceptably high levels of pressure or anger feel able to talk to their manager or superior about it
• Almost four out of five employers (78%) think their employees feel comfortable talking about mental health issues with a company representative
• At least 20% of employees who have experienced one of these conditions didn't feel able to speak to anyone about their condition
• Over half (51%) of employees who have experienced depression, high levels of pressure or anger suffer at least once a week or more

Most employees will discuss a mental health issue with someone but that is rarely their employer, a survey by insurer Legal & General has found.

Nearly two in five (39%) of those who had experienced depression felt they could speak with their spouse/partner about it, yet only 4% felt they could talk with their manager. One in three (30%) of employees who had experienced unacceptably high levels of pressure felt they could speak with friends, with only 10% feeling they could discuss it with their manager.

Those who had experienced anxiety felt the same, with 20% feeling they could speak with their parents but only 5% believing they could speak with their manager about the issue.

This contrasts with what employers believe, as 78% of those surveyed think employees feel comfortable talking about mental health issues with their employer.

Legal & General's research surveyed over 2,000 full-time employees and 200 Managing Directors or HR Managers from a range of different sized companies, and aims to highlight the work that still needs to be done to address the stigma of mental health in the workplace.

Unfortunately, 32% of those employees who have experienced depression, 31% who have experienced anger and 21% of those who have experienced unacceptable levels of pressure felt they could not speak with anyone about it, emphasising the work that still needs to be done to provide employees with the support they need.

A large proportion of employees say they have experienced depression (40%), anger (22%) or unacceptably high levels of pressure (25%) and, for over half (51%) of them, it's happening at least once a week on average. These are clear indications of a current mental health issue that employers should be aware of and support.

Indications that problems may be developing were similarly common: trouble sleeping (51%), tension (30%) or panic attacks (22%). For these conditions, between 27% and 69% of those surveyed mentioned they experienced one of these conditions weekly or more often.

Martin Noone, Managing Director, Legal & General Workplace Health and Protection, said:

'Our research demonstrates there is much more work to do to change the perception of mental health and the stigma attached to it. It seems that the workplace has, in the main, become a place for 'suffering in silence'.

'Campaigns such as 'Time to Change' are vital in raising awareness of this. Since joining the campaign in 2013 Legal & General has regularly enhanced the mental health support and services available to staff. The latest development is a team of Mental Health First Aiders trained to recognise symptoms in others and be able to support them.

'With one in four people experiencing a mental health problem each year, it's time for employers to work on their approach and start creating workplaces that are mentally healthy.

'Legal & General is planning a major initiative this year to encourage more openness in the workplace for those life-saving discussions around the mental wellbeing of employees.'

END

Further information (Journalists only)

http://www.legalandgeneral.com/workplacebenefits/employers/protection/

NOTES TO EDITORS

The information contained in this press release is intended solely for journalists and should not be relied upon by private investors or any other persons to make financial decisions.

About Legal & General

The Legal & General Group, established in 1836, is one of the UK's leading financial services companies. As at 30 June 2016, the total value of assets across the group was £841.5 billion, including derivative assets. We also had over nine million customers in the UK for our life assurance, pensions, investments and general insurance plans.

About Time to Change

Time to Change is a growing movement of people changing how we all think and act about mental health. Their voice is stronger and louder thanks to funding by the Department of Health, Comic Relief and the Big Lottery Fund. Their campaign is run by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, and thousands more organisations have joined to make change happen. Since Time to Change began in 2007, 3.4 million adults in England have improved attitudes towards mental health problems - that's an improvement of 8.3% between 2008 and 2014. And more people than ever are able to be open about their mental health problems. Legal & General signed the Time to Change charter in 2013.