Work is a vital part of life. As workers, we spend a significant amount of time in work settings and situations. While we may take care to create boundaries between our personal and professional lives, it is challenging to prevent workplace stressors from spilling over into our personal lives, thereby affecting our overall mental health and well-being. So, how do we prioritize our mental health at work?
We start with a shared understanding of mental health. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration explains that mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act, and helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices.
Championing Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being
Whether we work fully in-person, hybrid, or remote, our everyday work culture, responsibilities, and obligations may impact our overall health. Advocating for workplace mental health and well-being as a national priority has been ongoing and meaningful work.
The U.S. Surgeon General developed a framework for workplace mental health and well-being in 2022, which was built on five essentials: protection from harm, connection and community, work-life harmony, mattering at work, and opportunity for growth. These essentials are grounded in safety and security, and place the responsibility on organizations to reimagine workplace well-being by creating work cultures that:
- prioritize physical and psychological safety;
- provide support for mental health;
- cultivate trusted relationships and belonging;
- respect boundaries between work and non-work time;
- engage workers in decision-making while providing opportunities for recognition and gratitude, and;
- offer quality mentorship, training, and opportunities for advancement.
Responding to the Mental Health Needs of Workers
Ambade and colleagues (2025) integrated those five essentials mentioned above in a recent study to assess workplace mental health and wellbeing among experienced healthcare professionals. They found that:
- four in ten reported burnout and loneliness;
- those who reported burnout also reported lower workplace mental health and well-being, and;
- two of the lowest [worst] scores were related to work scheduling (a part of work-life harmony).
In response to these findings, the researchers addressed key ways in which organizations and team leaders can support workers:
learn to recognize the signs of distress, mental health challenges, and burnout;
stay connected and reach out for help;
prioritize moments of joy and connection;
get back to the basics with good health habits such as exercise, eating healthily, and getting enough sleep, and;
advocate for positive changes.
Our workplaces affect our mental health and well-being. The more we understand the importance of prioritizing workplace well-being, the better equipped we are to support practices and policies that benefit all employees. While organizational responsibilities are central to leading these key efforts, there are everyday practices that individual staff members can engage in to improve their health and well-being at work. In one of our most recent staff development webinars, we had a panel discussion with several mental health professionals and staff who facilitate Mental Health First Aid training. Follow the video link below to learn more about how to address mental health in the workplace, reduce stigma, tackle burnout, and find practical resources, Prioritizing Mental Health and Well-Being at Work. You may also find more resources on our Illinois Extension Mental Health Matters page.
Image
Unsplash | Total Shape
Resources
- 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline – Illinois Department of Human Services
- Faculty/Staff Assistance and Well-Being Services
- Statewide Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
- Be Well Illinois
- Illinois Human Resources Well-Being Services
- NAMI Illinois
- Mental Health First Aid
References
- Ambade, P.N., Hoffman, Z., Yi, M., MacKinnon, N.J. (2025). A national survey of health professional student preceptors’ workplace mental health and well-being. Electronic Journal of General Medicine, 22(5), 1-22.
Office of the Surgeon General. The U.S. surgeon general’s framework for workplace mental health & well-being. US Department of Health and Human Services; 2022. Available at: https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/workplace-mentalhealth-well-being.pdf (Accessed 2 February 2025).
- Aranda, V., Belzer, K., Crawford, M., Fanta, A., & Wallace Bechard, C. (2025, December 9). Prioritizing Mental Health and Well-Being at Work [video]. Illinois Media Space.