For some, the emotional cost of a paycheck is steep.
A new study suggests that workers in certain industries are significantly more likely to grapple with depression and frequent mental distress.
Researchers say the findings should serve as a wake-up call for employers to rethink how they design the mental health benefits for their employees.
In the study, researchers analyzed survey response data from more than half a million US workers collected between 2015 and 2019.
Of those, a staggering 80,319 reported having been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lifetime. Women were diagnosed at twice the rate of men.
Some industries stood out as especially grim for workers’ mental health.
Community and social service employees reported the highest rates of lifetime diagnosed depression, with food preparation and serving workers trailing close behind.
Also high on the list: workers in arts, entertainment, sports and media, followed by those in health care support, retail, education and library services.
On the flip side, workers in mining and construction reported the lowest rates of lifetime diagnosed depression.
But don’t grab a hardhat just yet.
Those same industries have the highest rate of suicides among US adult workers, and those numbers have been steadily rising since 2000.
Researchers suggested that the gap might be because both fields are male-dominated, and men may be more likely to seek help for mental health issues.
This, they theorized, could be due to factors like stigma or a lack of accessible services — especially in the rural or remote areas where many of these jobs are based.
Dr. Manish Sapra, executive director of Northwell Health’s Behavioral Health Service Line, called the study “significant.”
Responding to the findings, he emphasized that certain industries need to have tailored support systems for workers at higher risk of mental health challenges related to their jobs.
“With anything we’re doing on well-being or mental health for employees, employers need to customize those benefits and solutions for their specific population and not just pick something off the shelf and give that as a benefit,” he told The Post.
At Northwell Health, Sapra said that healthcare workers often face intense trauma and emotional stress from witnessing suffering firsthand.
To address this, the health system developed specialized support systems, including a peer support network and a stress first aid framework to help employees recognize stress in themselves and others.
“We’ve also developed expanded access to mental health services for our employees, which really helps get them help when they need it,” Sapra said. “We developed some digital technology to do that, basically giving employees access at the touch of a button.”
For other employers, Sapra stressed the importance of tackling barriers like stigma, cost and language that prevent workers from seeking care.
He added that mental health services must be available when employees can actually use them — for example, offering evening hours for those on daytime shifts.
Sapra noted that companies can further improve access by leveraging digital technologies that enable workers to connect with telehealth services from anywhere.
