Mental health crisis costs Northern Virginia more than $8 billion a year – WTOP News

The mental health crisis costs Northern Virginia $8 billion annually in unrealized economic output, according to a new report from the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia.

The report from the foundation’s research arm, Insight Region, found that economic loss caused by mental health has quadrupled since 2019, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic which began in early 2020.

In 2019, mental health issues among workers cost the region approximately 1% in productivity, or the equivalent of $2.1 billion in potential gross regional product (GRP). About 11% of working adults had mild anxiety or depression during this period.

However, during the pandemic, more than half of all workers have reported levels of anxiety or depression. As of May 2023, this statistic held true with 53% of the workforce struggling.

High levels of mental health needs led to an increase in productivity losses of 2.1 percentage points, or more than $8 billion in potential GRP each year, according to the report.

Millions of Americans have left the workforce in the past three years, and one in four attribute their departure to mental health, the report said. This job loss not only has a negative impact on the worker and their family.

This also affects team members who must compensate for lost production; employers who bear the costs of recruiting, hiring and onboarding new staff; and the local economy in unrealized gross regional product.

Most workers with anxiety and depression stay at work, which means some lost productivity can be attributed to absenteeism and presenteeism or an employee who is technically at work but not is not committed. This lack of commitment can often lead to procrastination and missed deadlines.

Overall, for every worker with a mental health need, their team can expect a 5 to 13 percent drop in total productivity, or two to five hours lost over a 40-hour work week, depending on the report. These behaviors can lead to a precipitous decline in productivity, at rates much higher than other conditions.

The Community Foundation collaborated on the research with George Mason University. Keith Waters, deputy director of the university’s Center for Regional Analysis, presented the findings last week at an event at the foundation’s headquarters in Fairfax.

Waters said research has shown that as mental health issues worsen, productivity losses also increase.

As you move from no mental health problems to more serious mental health problems, your productivity losses become more severe, you miss more work and your presenteeism problems become more serious, he said. he adds.

Waters noted that it is difficult to measure lost productivity, particularly in the professional and business services sectors, which have seen the greatest economic losses. Nearly half of these workers reported having mental health issues, with the sector seeing a $2.3 billion loss in 2022.

The report notes that sectors with the highest needs, including education and health services, commerce, transport and utilities, had rates of anxiety and depression above 60% and also experienced heavy losses in productivity.

Waters said if workers were more productive, the state would collect more taxes and be better equipped to address mental health needs.

It would improve overall quality of life because you could provide other support, he said.

To address the rise in anxiety and depression, the report says it is imperative to understand the causes.

The report cites job and family burnout as well as income insecurity as examples of stressors that contribute to anxiety and depression. And inadequate social support and autonomy can contribute to a diminished ability to cope with these stresses.

An individual’s ability to cope with stressors plays a crucial role in their mental health and is influenced in part by the strength and quality of their relationships (including that individual’s ability to talk about a mental health problem). mental health and respond to it) and by one’s ability to care about it. for their own well-being, the report says.

Suggestions for addressing workers’ mental health needs include that employers address mental health issues through employee support programs and changes in workplace culture and policies.

Helping workers minimize and manage stress not only from burnout, but also from the pressures of also being a parent, caregiver, student and caregiver could be key to improving the economic competitiveness of the region, the report said.