Young and New Workers

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the prevalence of mental illness is highest in young adults aged 18-25 years. Young workers, as well as anyone who is starting a new job (regardless of age), may find it stressful to start a new job and lack long-term ties and relationships with their boss and co-workers.

Parents and Other Caregivers

Juggling work and family responsibilities has always been challenging. This is true not only for parents, but also for people caring for elderly, medically vulnerable, or disabled family members. When workers cannot find adequate caregiving support, they often leave the labor force. Others stay at their jobs, but the constant pressure of trying to balance work and caregiving responsibilities can take a toll on their mental well-being.

All Workers

Workers across all industries and sectors deal with workplace stress.

Healthcare and Other Frontline Workers

Healthcare workers, nursing home staff, and other frontline workers, such as Police, Fire and EMS personnel, morticians, and others are facing severe stress, exhaustion, and compassion fatigue. They may work grueling hours, and be struggling with grief and a feeling of despair. Employers can do the following to help reduce some of that stress:

Hybrid Workforces

The U.S. workforce has drastically changed over the last few years. While some workers are in-person, others are fully remote, and another subset are doing both—a hybrid workplace where the amount of time working remote and, in the office, can vary from day-to-day and week-to-week. These workplace policies can provide flexibility for workers but may also create difficulties. Some remote workers may feel isolated and less connected to their team.

Glossary of Frequently Used Terms

Below are some terms you may come across while exploring information about mental health and substance use.

• Anxiety is an emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts, and physical changes such as increased blood pressure, sweating, trembling, dizziness, or a rapid heartbeat. People with anxiety disorders usually have recurring intrusive thoughts or concerns.

Outreach Materials

It is imperative to talk about mental health; shine light on the stressors; strategize about ways to alleviate stress them; and be on the lookout for signs and symptoms of stress and mental health emergencies so that people can either direct themselves, their friends, co-workers or family members to helpful coping and resiliency resources or other supportive networks and services if needed. The key is to build awareness, and the outreach products identified below will help with that goal.