Mental health advocate Jason Finucan wants to eliminate the stigma around mental illness in the workplace, after his co-workers reacted differently to his psychological illness compared to another co-worker’s physical illness.
“We talk about mental health a lot. But my experience has been that we don’t talk enough about mental illness,” said Finucan, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in his mid-20s.
Finucan spoke to the Moose Jaw Express on May 7 to promote his new book, Jason: 1, Stigma: 0 — My battle with mental illness at home and in the workplace. He released the book to coincide with Mental Health Week, which runs from May 6 to 12.
Finucan is also the founder of the StigmaZero Online Training Academy. This website features a comprehensive program to help employees, managers and human resources/senior management better understand mental illness in the workplace.
The book can be found at www.stigmazero.com.
The author and motivational speaker has developed five steps that could cure the stigma of mental illness in the workplace:
- Mental illness literacy: Deepen your understanding of mental illness and identify stigma
- View mental illnesses for what they are: illnesses, no different than physical illnesses like cancer
- Foster empathy for those with mental illness
- Learn how to let go of stigma and appropriately respond to people with a mental illness
- Be kind, offer your help and support, just as you would someone who has any other illness
“They are very effective if employed consistently,” Finucan said, adding eliminating stigma would help change minds and the workplace culture.
According to the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA):
- 64 per cent of workers would be concerned about how work would be affected if a colleague had a mental illness
- 42 per cent of Canadians would be unsure whether they would socialize with a friend who has a mental illness
- 39 per cent of workers indicate they would not tell their managers if they were experiencing a mental health problem
“Stigma is the one aspect of it all that we have the power to change, that currently has a huge negative impact,” said Finucan, 42, who lives in Montreal.
Finucan has experienced both physical and mental illnesses. He had heart surgery in 1984 at age 12 to fix a heart defect. He noted there was no stigma around that and no one questioned his character.
He experienced symptoms of bipolar disorder from 2002 to 2004 around age 26. In 2005 he had a manic episode where he did not sleep for five days. His family admitted him to a psychiatric hospital for two weeks.
“It was a relief to have a name of what was happening to me. It had controlled my life for a couple of years … ,” he said, adding while some people stood by him, others were uncomfortable with his illness.
Finucan took an 11-month leave of absence in 2005 to deal with his mental health. While his company’s HR department supported his time off, his co-workers did not know how to respond. They sent him a get-well card six months into his leave, with only the first names of his co-workers and no supportive messages.
When he returned to work, another co-worker soon took a leave due to a major physical illness. A large get-well card was purchased and supportive notes were written inside.
“It hit me: what is the difference between these two reactions?” said Finucan. “Is it they like him more than me? No … The difference was, everyone understand that (the co-worker) was in the hospital with a virus and that it wasn’t his fault.
“Stigma interrupted the empathy interaction with me, because all they knew was, ‘Jason’s off sick.’ They didn’t know why … because I had too much stigma to disclose my illness. I was afraid of them even knowing.”
Finucan added that removing stigma in the workplace would increase morale and make it easier to attract top talent.
