"You can’t force an individual to talk, but you can make it easy for them to find and access support if they need it."
- Dr Doug Wright, Medical Director at Aviva UK Health
Of those surveyed (1,000), 71% of men said they’d talk to someone if they were struggling with their mental health. Notably, the same number of women (710) said they’d talk to someone – challenging the perception that women are more likely to talk about their mental health than men.
45% of men said that they would talk to their GP about mental health-related challenges compared to 51% of women. A quarter of men (25%) and slightly more (26%) women, would talk to their partner. Unfortunately, fewer than one in ten (6%) of men feel comfortable discussing mental health-related challenges with their employer – only 4% of women said they would talk to their employer if they were struggling mentally.
33% of men said they never discuss mental health in the workplace – this was consistent across both sexes. However, roughly two-thirds (64%) of men and a similar number (61%) of women who’d talked to their employer said that they’d been helpful.
In terms of absence due to ill-health, 51% of men said that they’ve taken time off work because of their mental health in the past three months, compared to just under a third (32%) of women over the same period.
Yet, fewer than one in six (15%) men and women told their employer that they were absent due to mental health-related challenges – this suggests that there’s still work to be done to empower employees to admit that they’re struggling and require support.
Aviva found distinct trends when it comes to engagement with mental health support, available through its group protection & health products. While both sexes are likely to engage with the virtual GP service (49%) and Health Check (52%) made available on the Aviva DigiCare+ Workplace app, more women requested mental health support.
Only 38% of mental health consultations booked via the app in 2023 were for men, and just under two in five (39%) requests for support from the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) were by male employees.
Aviva saw similar trends in claims made through its mental health pathway with roughly 70% of claims made by women in 2023. However, the insurer is beginning to see a rise in male claims, particularly for children and young adults. The most common reasons to claim include anxiety and depression.
“It’s important that employers create a psychologically safe environment where people feel confident discussing their mental health. This can be nurtured by leaders sharing their own stories to help normalise the topic, encouraging open and honest conversations and creating ‘safe places’ for people to discuss how they’re feeling,” explained Dr Doug Wright, Medical Director at Aviva UK Health.
He said: “Line managers also have a key role to play. While they can’t ‘fix’ the mental health problem, they can play a crucial role by listening to the individual, directing them to appropriate support and making workplace adjustments to help with their recovery.”
“Finally, communication is key. You can’t force an individual to talk, but you can make it easy for them to find and access support if they need it,” Doug concluded.
