Mental health implications of returning to work post-COVID - Video transcript

One in five Americans are addressing issues of mental health conditions-- and by the way, that statistic was before COVID, so we already know that that number has probably increased dramatically.

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Could you have a crisis? Absolutely. And people will go into a mental health crisis, and it can happen in the office. Actually, if it's going to happen, it probably will happen in the office, right?

One, remain calm. When this happens, the person starts speaking very fast and it goes high pitched. You want to stay monotone, and just kind of go, OK, how can I help?

Ask questions in terms of how you can help them. Avoid confrontation. Sometimes the folks will get aggressive or angry-- again, stay calm. Avoid the confrontation.

If someone says, "you know what, just leave me alone. I just need to be by myself. I think I'm just going to go home," but it's come across like they may harm themselves, don't let them go home. Give them a private space in the office. If someone says, I've had feelings of committing suicide, but I would never do that, don't let them go home. That's what you don't want to do.

Now, the other thing is, I want to bring up this issue of suicide. People don't intend to hurt themselves-- they really don't, they're just trying to get out of pain. So they've died by suicide if that happens, but the idea is they really don't want to do that. They just are trying to get out of the pain.

But if for some reason you walk in a conference room and the person has harmed themselves, they've cut themselves, call for medical support. And first and foremost, always follow all company emergency procedures-- that's absolute first and foremost.