SUPPORTING YOUTH MENTAL WELL-BEING

Today’s youth are perhaps the most literate generation when it comes to knowing how to talk about mental health, having grown up surrounded by increased awareness and efforts to break stigma. Unfortunately, they are also some of those feeling the impacts of mental health struggles most prominently. A survey put out by Statistics Canada in 2019 found that only “40% of Canadian youth aged 15 to 24 reported having excellent or very good mental health in late March and early April 2020, compared with 62% in 2018,” which is the largest drop in percentage from previous years across all age groups. The significance of the drop is almost certainly an impact of Covid-19 given the study’s time frame, but even before the pandemic, we were seeing a general decline in youth mental well-being. By age 25, 1 in 5 youth will also have experienced or will be experiencing a mental illness (if you’re unsure about the difference between mental health and mental illness, here’s a quick explanation from our friends at Jack.Org). As such, when bringing youth into your organization, being able to engage in hard conversations about mental health, stress, and mental illness is essential, as is knowing how to support those around you. Part of this practice, as well, is being able to recognize when supporting a young person is beyond your scope or when it would put you at unecessary risk; this is why we recommend knowing your local and virtual resources, so you can take care in refering the young person to someone who does have the capacity to offer them the support they need. 

How can you integrate this practice into your work?

• Ensure that all staff (including management and supervisors) receive high quality mental health education. One course we highly recommend is the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s Mental Health First Aid course for adults who interact with youth.
• Know what you can and cannot ask an employee in relation to their mental health, or a mental illness. This guide from Mental Health Works covers everything you need to know in regard to those legalities, as well as information about responding to disclosures, offering accommodations, and more. The CEI, in partnership with TEAMworks and Phoenix Youth, also hosted this panel on supporting youth to share about mental health with their employers.
• Set an example—if you’re telling your employees to set good boundaries and take care of themselves, make sure you’re doing those things as well. Make use of mental health days. Be open about not feeling 100% all of the time. 
• Be aware of common stereotypes (eg, that someone struggling with their mental health or a mental illness can’t hold a job, that they’re unreliable, that they lack judgment…), and ensure that you’re not perpetuating them. If they come up among employees, actively work to counter and dispel them. There should be no tolerance for discrimination within your organization, and that fact should be clearly communicated to all.
• Know your local and virtual resources, so you can direct youth to support services if they need them. Figure out which services are available for youth in your area, what the processes are for accessing them, whether they have a cost, and if they accept your organization’s insurance. Keeping an up-to-date list somewhere visible in the office and having some brochures on hand is a great idea! If you’re stumped about where to start looking, we suggest chatting with a local mental health worker, nurse, or doctor; or, to start searching online, try ementalhealth.ca for a searchable catalogue of services. 
• Some workplaces have access to toll-free support numbers through their insurance companies or as an added support through human resources or workplace safety departments. If your workplace has access to a number like this, make sure that it is advertised to all employees and that it is clearly displayed in high-traffic areas or online hubs.
  

One of the more common mental health struggles impacting young workers is burnout: “a state of emotional, physical and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress” that can impact our ability to function ‘as usual’ at work or in other parts of our lives. Stress that is usually tolerable becomes difficult to process, and the brain struggles to take in new information. While burnout is often a ‘taboo’ topic, a study put out by Abacus Data at the end of 2021 found that 1 in 3 Canadian workers felt burned out, and that percentage grew to more than half when looking at youth respondents aged 18-29. In our own surveys, interviews, and focus groups youth identified that they often have trouble setting boundaries to protect themselves from burnout at work—because many of them have never been taught how, and because they’re afraid that setting those boundaries and saying ‘no’ might cost them their job. Our secondary and post-secondary systems teach youth to work in a very specific way that isn’t realistic in a workplace—e.g., glamourizing all-nighters and overloaded schedules—and so employers should be aware of what burnout looks like, and know how to prevent and address it. 

Many of the tips for integrating this recommendation into your work can be found in the previous section (resource awareness, open conversations, etc.), but in addition… 

How can you integrate this practice into your work?

• Understand the early signs and symptoms of burnout so you can recognize them if they show up for your youth. This article from the Canadian Association of Mental Health (also linked above) offers a good initial overview of career burnout, and what to look for.
• Don’t encourage or glamourize overtime—instead, encourage all employees to make use of their vacation and personal days, and normalize saying ‘no’ to projects that will overload someone’s schedule. 
• When you do recognize burnout, ensure that you’re offering support where you can. Some people may need to take some time and step back, while others may just need additional accommodations to lessen their stress at work. Asking the young person what they need is always the best approach, but some accommodations you could suggest if they aren’t sure might include: taking something off their plate, creating a schedule or routine that allows for frequent breaks, or supporting them to take on more fulfilling tasks. This list from Calm highlights some other means of support as well.

The most common response we received from young people when we asked what employers could do to support their mental health was to ensure the material conditions that supported their mental well-being were there. You can talk about well-being as much as you want, but if the conditions that support it aren’t met, then the conversations are useless. The material conditions youth specified were:

1. A living wage. Some of the key stressors young people face are related to finances. Many early career jobs offer minimum wage, which sits well below what is considered to be a living wage—the amount that’s required to live comfortably in a given area. In Nova Scotia, the most recent living wage calculations released by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (2021) are:

• • $21.30: Annapolis Valley (Annapolis, Kings, and Hants counties) 
  • $18.45: Cape Breton (Cape Breton, Inverness, Richmond and Victoria counties) 
  • $22.05: Halifax (Halifax County)
  • $19.20: Northern (Antigonish, Colchester, Cumberland, Guysborough, and Pictou counties)
  • $21.03: Southern (Digby, Lunenburg, Queens, Shelburne, and Yarmouth counties)

And yet, the minimum wage in NS isn’t scheduled to reach even $15 before 2024. As a result, many young people end up stretching themselves thin and working multiple jobs just so they can pay rent, buy groceries, and afford transportation. One youth interview participant summed up this point quite nicely: 

Youth also stated that earning a living wage contributed to their ability to find a work-life balance—something that’s hard to come by when you’re having to work multiple jobs, or take on extra hours in order to get by. Having time for oneself is vital to maintaining well-being. Statistics Canada data supports these findings, as their survey results show that youth living in low-income households were 14% less likely to rate their overall and mental well-being as very good or excellent. In addition to improving mental well-being, a living wage can also be a key motivational factor—adequate pay helps youth feel like their work is valued, which can lead to them speaking up more and becoming more invested in the projects they’re working on.

2. Mental health days. The youth we spoke with also highlighted the impact of mental health days. Being able to take time off to prioritize their mental health without having to explain why was something they thought should be low-hanging fruit for employers, and something that they told us would be beneficial to mitigating stress and prioritizing self-care. The key here is not having to explain why—youth shouldn’t need to disclose mental illness or tell their employer the gritty details of their struggles in order to access the time off. In order to be effective, mental health days should be given without question, and without qualification. Having time off that’s specifically designated for mental health can also have a positive impact on attitudes towards mental health and well-being amongst employees, and help reduce stigma. Even if your organization doesn’t offer time off that’s specifically denoted as “mental health days,” ensuring that the time off you do offer is flexible and (again) offered no-questions-asked is one way to make your existing practices more supportive. 

Ensuring that young employees are informed about their time off and what they need to do to access it is also important. Because mental health and mental illness are often highly stigmatized topics, youth might be hesitant to ask for time off if they think they’ll need to explain themselves, or, they may not be sure what they’re allowed to take time off for. Explaining these things when you first bring youth on board and housing the information somewhere easy to find can help mitigate these potential qualms. Ensuring that employees aren’t guilted into coming in when they’re struggling is also important; an organization being short-staffed is never the fault of the employee, and they shouldn’t be made to feel as such.

3. Benefits. In addition to mental health days, youth also identified other benefits such as paid sick leave and health insurance (that includes mental health coverage) as significant factors contributing to well-being within and outside of the workplace. Therapy is expensive! So’s going to the dentist, and filling prescriptions… providing benefits not only means that youth employees can access mental health care if they need it, but it also makes taking care of their physical health (which absolutely has an impact on mental health) easier, and less financially stressful.

Something else that young people are looking for from the organizations they engage with is that they’re trauma-informed. Understanding the universality of trauma, especially in the wake of Covid-19, the climate crisis, the housing crisis, etc., is an important step in supporting and understanding youth mental well-being.

How can you integrate this practice into your work?

• Understand what trauma looks like, and recognize that everyone—regardless of profession, age, or other traits—can experience trauma. One of our Youth Advisory Group members, Sydney, created this infographic that covers all the basics.
• While we recognize that a trauma-informed approach is important, the CEI is not an expert in trauma-informed practice, so we recommend you take a look at some resources from the experts! 
• Check out this guide to trauma-informed youth engagement from Wisdom 2 Action and PREVNET.
• Read through The Trauma Informed Toolkit put out by the University of Manitoba’s community health center, “a resource for service organizations and providers to deliver services that are trauma-informed.”
• Find an online or in-person training opportunity through organizations such as SafeGuards Trauma Informed Training or Hardy Consulting.