I recently participated on a webinar with Littler Mendelson on "Responding to Signs of Suicide in the Workplace"that reminded me of the importance of this topic at this particular moment in time. We have addressed this issue fairly frequently in past newsletters, but it bears repeating.
I am sending this newsletter out to serve as a brief reminder. This is not a topic that is easy to talk about. And I certainly would prefer to be sending you our usual cheery Happy Holidays newsletter.
Historically, suicide is 10th leading cause of death in this country, with almost 1 out of every 20 persons reporting a past attempt (probably an underestimate). Over the past 20 years, we have seen a dramatic 35% increase in suicides in the U.S.
And now we have 2020, and I don't need to tell anyone that things have been different. The stressors have been severe and on many different levels - not to mention that the greatest stressor for human beings is uncertainty, which we have had more than a sufficient amount of this year. We don't have much in the way of stats yet, but the CDC way back in June of this year (remember June, when we thought the virus was bad) found that 10.7% of those surveyed had seriously considered suicide that month, with a reported rate of depression and anxiety being 3-4x the same period from the year before, and with a 13% increase in substance abuse. And it's gotten worse.
I do not want to paint a gloomy picture, but the Holidays are upon us, and we all know that for many, this period can be stressful, even without the background noise of 2020. Many are recently unemployed, and some existing employees are feeling that their jobs also may be soon at risk, as their companies have to address financial losses in the near term.
My message is only that we have to pay more attention to our employees. As we have discussed in an earlier newsletter this year, we have to impress upon our managers the need to identify those employees who may be at risk. COVID-19 has presented us with a particular challenge, in that many are working from home and are out of our sight. It is therefore important that managers spend more time being available and checking in with their employees (and asking them the right questions), to make sure that nothing is missed.
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Some suggestions when you check in with your employees:
- When the employee is working remotely, you must be prepared to spend more time in this communication process, since you have comparatively limited access to important data. You may have to slow it down and be more patient than is usually required.
- Schedule regular zoom or interactive calls to check in.
- If you want to know how the employee is doing, ask! But ask a genuine question that invites a genuine answer. "How are you?" is a good start but often just leads to an equally perfunctory (but not always honest) answer, i.e., "I'm fine, thanks." Ask something more specific, that recognizes the specifics of their life.
- Listen well and actively. Acknowledge their concerns. Repeat and summarize what they are telling you. Follow up your initial question with questions and reflect back what they say - to encourage elaboration.
- Don't try to provide answers or unsolicited advice. Be patient, and make sure that you listen well.
- If your employee has mentioned (or even suggested) a worry or concern in the past, follow up with that and check in to see how they are now feeling about that.
- If you want to know if someone is suicidal, ask them! Often, they are waiting for someone to do just that.
For immediate help, there is a national hotline (800-273-8255), and you can find resources by visiting the websites of the following organizations:
- The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
- The National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention
- American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
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We wish you all a healthy and safe Holidays. We will get through this. Please feel free to let us know if we can be of service during these extraordinary times.
Marc McElhaney, Ph.D.
CEO, Critical Response Associates
