Mental health in the workplace
Workplaces play a dual role in the area of mental health. On the one hand, they can be a stressful environment that contributes to mental health problems among workers. On the other hand, they can play an important part in helping to detect and manage mental health problems when they arise among workers, and in ensuring the healthy recovery and return of workers who are off work due to a mental health issue. IWH research in this area helps paint a clearer picture of the prevalence of mental health problems among workers, the types of labour force and workplace factors that may contribute to poor mental health, and the workplace-based and system prevention efforts that can help improve the mental health of workers and ensure they have the proper supports when needed.
Featured
At Work article
Injured workers face mental health challenges beyond diagnosable conditions
Workers with a work-related physical injury that takes them off the job can have a wide range of mental health experiences, beyond diagnosable conditions. That’s according to an IWH study which also found that differences in injured workers’ mental health were linked to return-to-work outcomes.
Published: April 9, 2025
At Work article
How employers are improving RTW outcomes for public safety workers with PSTI
Public safety employers face a range of challenges when supporting workers to return to work after experiencing a post-traumatic stress injury. Employers have developed strategies to face these challenges, as outlined in a recent IWH Speaker Series presentation.
Published: March 12, 2025
Journal article
Journal article
Prevalence of serious mental illness and mental health service use after a workplace injury: a longitudinal study of workers' compensation claimants in Victoria, Australia
Published: Occupational and Environmental Medicine, January 2020
Journal article
Journal article
Investigating young adults' mental health and early working life trajectories from a life course perspective: the role of transitions
Published: Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, January 2020
Sharing Best Evidence
What workplace interventions help workers with MSDs, pain and mental health conditions return to work?
This update of a previous systematic review sets out to find workplace-based interventions that are effective in helping workers with musculoskeletal, pain-related and/or mental health conditions return to work.
Published: December 2019
IWH in the media
Protecting minds a priority in changing times
In a world where the only constant is change, mental health has become the fastest-growing category of disability in the workplace, Marcel Van der Wier writes. And yet, society is still taking an overly individualistic approach to mental health, emphasizing employee resilience instead of focusing on structural problems in the way work is organized, says Institute for Work & Health's Dr. Peter Smith.
Published: OHS Canada, November 2019
Impact case study
IWH researchers help MPs examine episodic disabilities and work issues
IWH senior scientists presented expert testimony to a federal standing committee looking at the needs of people with episodic disabilities—an example of how research can support policy-makers in addressing important societal issues.
Published: November 2019
At Work article
Claimants’ perceptions of fair treatment linked to lower odds of poor mental health
Previous studies have suggested that the process of making a workers’ compensation claim may be linked to poorer mental health. Now, an IWH study suggests that claimant's perception of fair treatment by case managers may be key.
Published: November 2019
At Work article
Program raised workplace mental health awareness, but not likelihood of policy
In Thunder Bay and surrounding area, public health officials began hearing that employers needed more resources on managing mental health. They responded with a community awareness program. According to a study, the program raised knowledge about the issue—and not just among those that took part.
Published: October 2019
IWH Speaker Series
IWH Speaker Series
Trends in depression and anxiety among Canadian labour force participants (2000-2016)
Despite much effort aimed at improving the mental health of Canadians, we still know little about the prevalence of two common mental health conditions across the working population. In this presentation, IWH Research Associate Kathleen Dobson shares her doctoral research exploring trends in depression and anxiety disorders in the Canadian workforce, from 2000 to 2016. She also highlights the challenges in creating high-quality population-based evidence about the labour force’s mental health.
Published: October 2019
At Work article
Psychosocial work conditions linked with both positive and negative mental health
Greater job control, job security and social support at work not only lower the risks of mental disorders; they may also raise the likelihood of flourishing mental well-being.
Published: July 2019
Research Highlights
Psychosocial work conditions and mental health
Having positive mental health is not the same as having no mental illness. The two are related, but distinct, concepts. A study by IWH suggests that better psychosocial work conditions—greater job security, job control and social support—can have greater influence on one more than the other.
Published: June 2019