May is Mental Health Awareness Month
That matters, because workplace mental health is not a seasonal issue. It shows up every day in performance, engagement, absenteeism, turnover, and how people treat one another when pressure is high.
Over the past two decades, the conversation has shifted. We talk more openly about stress, burnout, anxiety, and psychological safety. Yet many workplaces are still struggling to turn awareness into consistent, practical action.
The data confirms what leaders are seeing on the ground.
Stress Has Not Gone Away. It Has Changed Shape.
Stress continues to rank among the top risks to employee health globally. What has changed is how it shows up.
Employees are not only managing workload pressure. They are navigating constant change, economic uncertainty, staffing shortages, blurred work–life boundaries, and a pace of work that rarely slows.
Recent Canadian data shows that:
- A significant portion of employees report ongoing stress and emotional exhaustion.
- Burnout rates have increased since pre-pandemic years, not decreased.
- Many employees say they are still expected to do more with fewer resources.
Stress is no longer episodic. For many, it has become chronic.
Absenteeism Is a Signal, Not Just a Statistic
Absenteeism has been rising for years, and mental health plays a major role.
While people may be absent due to illness, many absences are connected to:
- Overload and fatigue
- Conflict or lack of support
- Poor role clarity
- Low recognition
- Feeling psychologically unsafe
In other words, absence is often a symptom, not the root problem.
When leaders only track absenteeism without asking why it is happening, they miss an opportunity for early intervention.
Burnout Still Hides in Plain Sight
Burnout rarely announces itself. It builds gradually, often dismissed as a “busy season,” a tough project, or a temporary slump.
Many of the early warning signs show up in everyday behaviour at work. When they go unnoticed or are normalized, burnout deepens.
The Mayo Clinic has long identified 13 common signs that job burnout may be taking hold. These signs remain highly relevant today:
- Becoming more cynical, critical, or sarcastic at work
- Losing the ability to experience joy or satisfaction
- Struggling to get into work or to get started once there
- Growing increasingly irritable and less patient with co-workers, customers, or clients
- Feeling that there are insurmountable barriers at work
- Lacking the energy to be consistently productive
- No longer feeling a sense of accomplishment from achievements
- Having difficulty laughing at oneself or finding humour
- Hearing colleagues ask, “Are you okay?” more often
- Feeling disillusioned about the job or the organization
- Self-medicating with food, alcohol, or other substances to cope or numb
- Experiencing changes in sleep patterns or appetite
- Being troubled by unexplained physical symptoms such as headaches, neck pain, or lower back pain
Individually, these behaviours may seem manageable or temporary. Together, they paint a clear picture of a system under strain.
Too often, these signs are misinterpreted as disengagement, attitude problems, or poor performance. In reality, they are signals that capacity has been exceeded for too long without adequate recovery or support.
When leaders are trained to recognize these patterns early, burnout becomes preventable rather than inevitable.
Mental Health Challenges Impact Work Performance
Mental health challenges affect how people think, communicate, and function at work.
Globally, anxiety and depression account for billions of lost workdays each year. In Canada, employees continue to report that mental health struggles interfere with focus, energy, and performance.
What is important to remember is this:
Mental health exists on a continuum.
Most employees will not experience a crisis, but many will experience periods of struggle that still require understanding, flexibility, and support.
Workplaces that ignore this reality often see issues escalate. Workplaces that respond early tend to see better outcomes for both people and performance.
Mentally Healthy Workplaces Start at the Top
Policies alone do not create a mentally healthy organization. Leadership behaviour does.
Employees watch how leaders respond to pressure, mistakes, conflict, and workload. They take cues from what is modelled, not what is written in a handbook.
Mentally healthy workplaces tend to share common practices:
- Clear expectations and priorities
- Reasonable workloads and role clarity
- Access to appropriate tools and resources
- Opportunities for input and voice
- Respectful conflict resolution
- Transparent communication
- Flexibility where possible
- Visible support for mental health, not silence
These are not “nice to haves.” They are protective factors.
What This Means for Workplace Wellness Programming
Mental health initiatives work best when they are woven into everyday operations, not treated as one-off events.
Effective wellness strategies:
- Focus on prevention, not just crisis response
- Address workload, culture, and leadership practices
- Support managers with skills, not just expectations
- Normalize conversations about stress and mental health
- Reinforce psychological safety at all levels
When wellness is positioned as a business strategy rather than a perk, organizations see stronger engagement, lower absenteeism, and healthier teams.
A Moment to Pause and Recommit
Mental Health Awareness Month is an opportunity to pause and reflect.
Ask yourself:
- Where are our people showing signs of strain?
- What barriers make it hard for them to speak up?
- Are leaders equipped to respond with confidence and compassion?
- What one change would make the biggest difference right now?
Progress does not require perfection. It requires intention, consistency, and leadership commitment.
Final Reflection
Stress, burnout, and mental health challenges are not personal failures.
They are workplace realities that require workplace solutions.
Mental Health Awareness Month is a reminder that how we work matters just as much as what we produce.
How are you prioritizing mental health in your organization this May?
If you have strategies, successes, or lessons learned, share them. The conversation matters, and so does what we do next.
Contact Beverly about hosting a mental health workshop for your teams on how to build resilience. Discover tips to deal with stress and encourage positive stress management techniques!
If you have some strategies to share – comment on this posting!
Other Articles That You May Like:
- Mental Health In The Small Business Workplace
- Psychosocial Risk Factors
- Employee Health and Barriers To Wellness
- Celebrating Healthy Workplace Month
- Lessening The Anguish of Depression Through Supportive Workplace Conversations
- Your Employees and Burnout
- Employee Engagement
- Do You Know Your Stress Numbers
- Mental Health In The Workplace
- Childcare Professionals Day
Author: Beverly Beuermann-King
Beverly Beuermann-King, CSP, is a Leadership, Culture and Human Performance Expert, speaker, trainer and founder of WorkSmartLiveSmart.com. For more than 30 years, she has helped leaders and organizations strengthen workplace culture, navigate change, reduce stress and burnout, address difficult workplace dynamics, and create the conditions where people and performance can thrive together.
Through her keynotes, workshops and leadership programs, Beverly brings practical strategies and behavioural insights to the real challenges leaders and teams face every day. Looking for a speaker or training program for your organization or upcoming event? Explore Beverly’s presentations or contact her to discuss your goals and how she can support your leaders and teams.