Are Mental Health First Aiders saving lives?

Nine workplace Mental Health First Aid standards have been published by the consultancy Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) as a “framework for effective mental health first aid support”.

Employers such as PwC, WHSmith, and Simplyhealth have already pledged to be early adopters of the standards, which were developed after a consultation with over 100,000 members of the Association of Mental Health First Aiders.

Life-savers

Asked about their role and impact, 89% of current MHFAs said they believed they MHFAs  lives and 91% that they were challenging stigma around mental health. 90% argued that MHFA training should be a legal requirement in every workplace.

The release of the standards is to be marked with an MP-sponsored event at the House of Commons on 12 November which plans to “celebrate the lifesaving conversations of Mental Health First Aiders”.

Clarity on roles

“MHFAs have been a positive development in raising awareness of the importance of employee mental health, making it easier for staff to have the crucial early conversations about their concerns,” said EAPA UK chair, Karl Bennett. “But MHFA training is strictly limited to providing initial signposting. They’re untrained when it comes to giving any advice on highly complex and sensitive issues, which needs to be left to professionals.”

“Unlike professional counsellors, MHFAs have no support when it comes to their own mental health and how it might be affected. It’s important at this stage that the role of MHFAs isn’t overstated — they should only ever be one element in a package of measures that provide preventative and reactive support.”

Are men now more comfortable talking about mental health than women?

Traditionally men have been known to be reluctant to confront health problems in general, less likely to go to their GP to discuss worries. The reticence of men around mental health has always been seen as the main reason why men are three times more likely to take their own life than women.

But a survey by Health Shield Friendly Society among 2,002 employees and 500 HR and benefits decision-makers at large UK employers has found that 59% of men were comfortable with talking about their mental health compared with 54% of women. There was also a perception gap: 74% of HR professionals believed their employees were comfortable with the subject, compared with 56% of employees themselves.

Why now?

In response to the new figures, HR commentators have suggested it’s a sign that the years of campaigns targeted towards men, such as the Movember initiative, have started to have an effect; others that there’s been a wider cultural change around what masculinity involves, including more willingness to talk about emotions.

At the same time there’s concern over why relatively fewer women are speaking up, and the suggestion it may be the result of a lack of support around menopause issues.

Reality check

“The more conversations about mental health, and the earlier they happen, the better in terms of outcomes,” said EAPA UK chair, Karl Bennett. “More men talking about mental illness is crucial to lowering the numbers of men taking their own lives.

“The question with these new figures is how much they are evidence of men facing up to their problems and vulnerability. Now that discussions around mental health are so much the norm, it could also be that talking about mental health is another way men show their strength, their lack of concern.

“People will always feel ‘comfortable’ when they don’t really believe a problem is relevant to them. What matters is that employees are willing and able to have honest conversations that get to the root of any underlying problems, and that means speaking in confidence to an independent source of professional advice.”

Our EAP: BNP Paribas UK Corporate and Institutional Banking (CIB)

BNP Paribas UK Corporate and Institutional Banking (CIB) employs 4,000 staff in the UK delivering services in capital markets, securities services, financing, risk management, cash management and financial advice.

The business has built on the core offering of its EAP to provide a more personalised mental health approach based on identifying the specific issues and life events that can lead to challenges.  

“The organisation has the mindset that mental health does not discriminate based on gender, age, financial status or seniority, lifestyle,” said Thomas Hiles, head of benefits at BNP Paribas CIB.

“As a human issue, it affects everyone: the individual, their family, their colleagues. We want to do as much as we can to provide support in order to limit some of the worse effects. The visible costs of psychological support are actually quite small, but the invisible cost is much greater.”

The approach has moved on from a focus on destigmatising mental health — involving guest speaker sessions facilitated by senior management sponsors — to more specific life topics that staff will relate to at different times: financial worries and debt, starting a family and bereavement, physical health issues, caregiving responsibilities, and specific issues such as trauma and addiction. Again, guest speakers, both clinical specialists and people with stories to share, are brought into the organisation to talk through their experiences and lessons. Staff are supported and encouraged to share their own stories through employee networks.

Linked to the EAP is now a private GP service, accessible by family members of all ages; back-up child and eldercare; and specific clinical interventions focused on fertility and parenting, menopause, and women and men’s health. Innovations include a fund of financial support for people to pay for a neurodiversity diagnosis and ongoing support, and specialised occupational health services focused on mental health. “A strong measure of how this is received is the increasing number of staff who seek support from our OH lead,” said Thomas Hiles.

What is “mental wellbeing”? The importance of a common definition

Professor Lindsay Oades, Provost at the University of York Mumbai; and Dr Matthew Iasiello, School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, Adelaide University:

The lack of a common definition for mental wellbeing has limited progress in mental health policy and treatment.  

In any other profession, you couldn’t aim for a positive outcome to a strategy, treatment, or intervention, if you had hundreds of different ways to measure the severity of the problem in the first place, and so it really isn’t surprising that so many sectors struggle creating programmes to promote positive mental health.

The real significance of having an agreed definition of mental wellbeing is how we can use it in practice, particularly how governments measure national wellbeing, support public health strategies and fund new interventions.

Our study, a project led at the University of Adelaide, was published in Nature Mental Health. We surveyed 122 experts in areas relating to mental health across 11 academic disciplines around the world.

The resulting work concluded that the core elements of mental wellbeing should be summarised in terms of the following:

• Meaning and purpose
• Life satisfaction
• Self-acceptance
• Strong relationships
• Autonomy
• Happiness. 

Factors such as income, housing and physical health, while important, were found to are drivers of wellbeing rather than defining features — a distinction that can help policymakers better understand where to focus interventions and investment.

The research has reinforced the key point that mental wellbeing is not the absence of mental illness, providing evidence for the value of greater emphasis on helping people to thrive, rather than only treating illness.

The next step will be applying the framework in real-world settings, with the potential to reshape how mental health is measured and supported worldwide. For example, the common definition can be used by employers to design targeted support programmes that contribute to wellbeing; and in education, schools can be guided to support children’s emotional development, with a greater focus on building resilience and connection from an early age.

What have EAPs ever done for us? The new national mental health strategy for England

The contribution of EAPs to supporting the mental health of the UK workforce, has been seriously under-estimated by policy-makers.

The government needs to engage with EAP providers — over its data, its experience and knowledge of employee mental health, and its role with employers in delivery — in order to maximise the impact of services being provided at no cost to taxpayers for the benefit of employees, organisations and society as a whole. It should be doing this by:

• actively involving EAPA UK and EAP industry experts in strategy discussions around the evolving picture of employee mental health and policy-making processes;

• considering the potential uses of anonymised data gathered via EAPs, for example the trends in terms of reasons for using services and how (issues being faced, level of need etc), and their progress in terms of recovery — which constitutes an important resource in terms of understanding trends in the mental health of the UK workforce, and can contribute to informing strategies of support and track the impact of campaigns and interventions;

• ensuring good governance and regulation of how generative AI tools are used in giving advice on mental health, encouraging the development of ring-fenced expert content based solely on advice from qualified professional sources in psychiatry and psychotherapy;

• promoting and support EAPs and their value for early interventions as a preventative measure. More pro-active support from government in promoting the huge role of EAPs and the value of early EAP use could have a transformative effect on the levels of people avoiding serious mental illnesses;

• encouraging the use of EAPs in providing clinical supervisory role for MHFAs in workplaces. The potential of the MHFA scheme has been limited because it has been used largely as a commercial opportunity to sell training rather than as a government initiative — and that has meant it has not been backed up by professional clinical  supervision for those exposed (the mandatory support given to all those involved in providing counselling);

• using EAPs to equip more people in the general population with the skills needed to help when they encounter people in need of immediate mental health support, similar to campaigns to encourage First Aid skills.

Karl Bennett, Chair of EAPA UK

Why employees still put off getting help with mental health worries

In a survey of 8,000 UK employees, Bupa has found that 71% had gone to work while struggling with their mental health. Overall, 56% had delayed getting professional help for mental and physical conditions because they didn’t want to take time off.

In spite of the changing attitudes to mental health, workers are still reluctant to risk showing they aren’t fully engaged or available. One third believed that taking time off for health reasons might affect their career prospects. Anxieties about the cost of living were given as a leading reason for avoiding time off.

Work first, health second

The current state of the economy, financial worries and the need to stay in jobs meant wellbeing issues had to be put on hold, according to around half of those surveyed for the Bupa Wellbeing Index.

At the same time, 22% also admitted that ignoring the symptoms of illness had led to them needing more urgent medical interventions. Poor mental wellbeing was a major reason why 24% had left their job (18% for people with physical health issues).

Showing commitment

EAPA UK chair, Karl Bennett said: “The availability of health support, all the different services and channels from EAPs to NHS centres, evidently isn’t an answer in itself. People need to feel confident that the attitudes towards them among line managers and colleagues won’t be affected.

“In their communications and advice to managers, HR need to be emphasising the importance of encouraging openness about mental health conditions — not just as a talking point, as something that’s now accepted, but as an issue that will sometimes involve flexibility and understanding in practice. People might be more willing to admit to suffering from anxiety and depression but that doesn’t help if they’re still insecure about what that really means for their job.

“Employees will occasionally need time off to access advise and support early on. And small amounts of disruption to routines now are far preferable to longer periods of absence, disengagement and problems with retention later.”

Health and wellbeing support is being used to prevent long-term absence — but what actually works?

58% of employers in a survey of 500 senior HR professionals in the UK said that long-term employee absence was having a “high to severe” impact on their operations. 30% said short-term absences were the cause of the same level of problems.

Most commonly the causes were chronic illnesses, heart disease and diabetes (28%); acute medical conditions such as cancer or stroke (27%). But in combination, the most prevalent causes are home-life-related depression or anxiety accounted (21%) and work-related stress (18%).

Absence and the causes are tracked…

Among those surveyed, 89% felt their organisation has a “good understanding” of absence and causes. And 61% use their health and wellbeing offerings in general as preventative measures to limit absence. 15% don’t use health and wellbeing support specifically for its impact on absence.

The most used interventions to help staff return to work are the offer of flexible working arrangements (42%), counselling for mental health (34%) and occupational health support (25%).

…but the impact of efforts to limit absence usually aren’t

EAPA UK chair, Karl Bennett said: “A clear understanding of the picture on absence is the first stage. Its essential for informing a health and wellbeing strategy: what issues should be targeted for advice and support, among which groups in the employee population.

“But given the degree of the implications of both long and short-term absence, the disruption, the strain on colleagues, there needs to be more attention to what health and wellbeing interventions have an impact, that help to prevent or limit the extent of long-term absence. In other words, as EAP providers and employers with common challenges, we should be aiming for a stage where data is being shared on what works, when and for which conditions and types of employee.”

Why do 42% of people trust AI more than a mental health professional?

The new AXA Mind Health Report 2026 claims that more than one in three adults in the UK are “impacted by poor mental health” — the highest level in Europe, and third worst in the world (based on a global survey among 19,000 18 to 75 year-olds).

The findings point to the existence of barriers to accessing professional support: 60% saying they haven’t visited a mental health professional in the past 12 months; 25% fearing they would be be stigmatised or judged negatively for doing so.

This has potentially led to people using technology as a replacement for medical help, with almost half (46 per cent) of Brits turning to AI tools for mental health support, although this is below the global average of 63 per cent. A third (33 per cent) use AI tools to self-manage their mental health and 42 per cent trust them more than a mental health professional for guidance.

Preferring AI

More people are using AI (46%) as an easier, less visible option, with 42% saying they trusted the software tool more than using a professional service.

At the same time, the evidence highlights a mixed picture when it comes to experiences using AI. 57% found the tools helpful; 43% were dissatisfied with the advice received. Significantly, 27% claimed that some of the AI recommendations had “led them to engage in harmful behaviour”.

No replacement

EAPA UK chair, Karl Bennett said: “In many situations AI can be a useful tool. But in this new world we have to ensure there’s a balance with AI only being used for mental health advice and support in particular situations — and not as a replacement for expert, human contact and relationships.

“The findings highlight the challenges faced by our sector. It’s been an age-old issue that employees have tended to see EAPs as a service that people use in a crisis. More than ever, there needs to be work alongside employers to ensure that accessing an EAP isn’t seen as a sign of weakness, that confidentiality is assured, and more employees use services earlier to deal with minor problems before they escalate.”

Why ‘healthy jobs’ will revive the UK economy

A focus on investing in ‘good work’ is the key to dealing with the UK’s high levels of economic inactivity, according to the New Economics Foundation think tank.

Its report The Good Work Effect: How High-Quality Work Can Lead a Jobs Recovery, is based on research into the link between poor job quality and the likelihood of leaving work. The evidence from this suggests that employees in roles that are rigid, insecure, or lacking in managerial support will be likely to drop out of the jobs market when their health, mental or physical, is affected.

Authors point to how inactivity is the result of “cumulative pressures, rather than single shocks” and small differences in the nature of jobs can make a big difference to employee experience and attitudes.

Healthy jobs

By contrast, the data points to how employees in ‘healthy jobs’ — defined as jobs with greater levels of autonomy when it comes to their work hours and tasks performed, with some sense of job security, and where there’s the chance to speak up and be listened to — were disproportionately protected against needing to leave their job because of illness.

The New Economics Foundation has called for the government to invest in a “good-jobs-led economic recovery” based on a higher employment rate, rather than any growth in more ‘flexible’ but also more precarious job roles. The issue will only become more urgent as UK society continues to age and more people in the workforce will need to manage health conditions alongside paid work.

The best preventative care

EAPA UK chair, Karl Bennett said: “Our experience from decades of providing EAPs tells us that good work is the best form of preventative care. No level of health and wellbeing support, none of the perks like gym memberships, health insurance or access to GP services, can compensate for feeling constantly insecure, unvalued and losing control of tasks and what can be delivered.

“This is why it’s so important that employers talk to their EAP partner about the available evidence on their people and how they’re feeling, picking up as early as possible on any trends in terms of increased stress and anxiety, and how issues like job design, performance targets, team culture and managerial styles are affecting employees.”

Should there be mandatory reporting of psychosocial risks in workplaces?

Economists at the University of Sydney have highlighted the rise of ‘workplace depression’ in the UK. In a survey of 20,000 UK employees, 49% said their jobs had “made them feel depressed at least some of the time in the past few weeks”. The main cause was found to be not having enough time to do tasks required, the need for multi-tasking and lack of autonomy.

The researchers call for the introduction of mandatory reporting by firms of psychosocial hazards, of  “any aspects of a workplace or its culture that can cause psychological or physical harm” — similar to the current measures around reporting on gender pay gaps.

Hazards in the window

The reporting, the University argues, would incentivise organisations to improve workplace cultures and working conditions, and allow employees and potential employees to compare the performance of employers, and make informed choices about who they want to work for.

It points to the government scheme, Safe Work Australia, which already demands that businesses monitor and consult on psychosocial hazards.

Better now

EAPA UK chair, Karl Bennett said: “Given the wider social and economic costs from poor mental health, long-term illnesses and economic inactivity, the scrutiny of employers and workplace cultures is only going to keep growing.

“It would be sensible for HR leaders to plan for the future and look at how they can, first of all, understand where the pressure points are in their organisation, working with their EAP partner. And then look at using the evidence to track where extra support to changes are needed to prevent ordinary stresses and pressures turning into mental health problems that are damaging to everyone involved. If voluntary reporting becomes commonplace, or mandatory measures are necessary, then the pro-active employers will be in position to embrace the new situation and take advantage.”