Most Pinoy workers stay mum about mental health concerns

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine employees are among those least comfortable to share their mental health concerns with their managers in Southeast Asia, according to a survey conducted by consumer and research analytics company Milieu Insight.

The “Mental Health At The Workplace” survey conducted by Milieu Insight with mental health organization Calm Collective Asia found that 38 percent of employees in the Philippines do not feel comfortable sharing their concerns with their supervisor, manager or other relevant staff about their mental health or periods when they feel their mental wellness is affected by stressors in life.

Milieu Insight said this is the third highest among the six countries surveyed, with Singapore taking the lead with 62 percent of employees not comfortable sharing about their mental health challenges with managers, followed by Malaysia in second place with 45 percent.

Other countries covered by the survey that reported lower percentages of employees not comfortable to share about their mental health issues are Indonesia (34 percent), Thailand (33 percent), and Vietnam (21 percent).

Across the region, 38 percent of employees do not feel comfortable sharing about their mental health concerns with their managers.

Conducted in September last year, the study covered a total of 6,000 employees across the six countries.

Through the study, Milieu Insight said the aim is to understand the mental health needs of employees in Southeast Asia and how these can be addressed in the workplace.

Top challenges cited by Philippine employees when sharing about their mental wellness in the workplace are:  fear of being judged or discriminated (52 percent), not wanting to burden people with their problems (47 percent), and feeling that no one may understand what they are going through (41 percent).

For employees across the region, the main challenges in sharing about their mental health concerns at work are not wanting to burden people with their problems (38 percent), not wanting to be judged or discriminated (37 percent), and the concern about being perceived as weak or unproductive or lazy (36 percent).

When asked about their company’s culture of openness and psychological safety, 38 percent of respondents from the Philippines said it does not exist or is implemented poorly, while 46 percent said it was satisfactory, and 16 percent provided a high or very high rating.

A psychologically safe workplace is one where a safe space is provided for employees to openly share their concerns without the fear of being judged.

Overall in Southeast Asia, 45 percent of respondents said psychological safety is either non-existent or poorly implemented, making it a barrier to normalizing mental health conversations in the workplace.

In terms of their top work-related stressors, respondents from the Philippines cited having too heavy workload (46 percent), long hours at work (41 percent), and worries over job performance (40 percent).

Due to work-related stress, 47 percent of Philippine respondents said they have anxiety symptoms, while 46 percent experienced burnout.

Employees from the Philippines said their most preferred mental health resources in the workplace are flexible work arrangements (49 percent), paid mental wellness leave or time off (43 percent), and budget for health and wellness activities (36 percent).

Calm Collective Asia chief executive officer and co-founder Sabrina Ooi said the study shows the gaps that need to be addressed to effectively support mental health at work.

“Psychological safety creates the conditions for employees to seek help from their managers, and use the resources available to them. By increasing their mental health literacy and practicing compassion, managers can positively influence the well-being of their teams,” she said.

“Furthermore, companies need to recognize the business case for this: Psychological safety helps boost employee engagement, performance, and retention. It’s clear that healthy people equals healthy business,” she said.

Milieu Insight chief executive officer and founder Gerald Ang said making mental health resources available in the workplace is important in balancing employees’ work responsibilities with their personal well-being.

“The barrier preventing employees from seeking help is often due to the lack of safe spaces in the workplace, stemming from many causes including the lack of perceived care by the company for their employees’ well-being as reflected in our study. While mental health resources are important, they are part of a well-rounded solution needed to provide a healthy environment that employees can thrive in,’’ he said.