They live by an unwritten code that says when the going gets tough, "suck it up.”

Feeling stressed or depressed? Keep it to yourself. No wimps allowed.

"The attitude has been, if you've got emotional problems, leave those at home," says Bernie Trahan, fleet services director. "You're here to work.

We have targets, productivity, goals and objectives to meet."

Mike Dempster, Business Edge
Bernie Trahan, City of Calgary fleet services director, took a hands-on attitude in dealing with mental health issues at work.

That's bottom-line talk and Trahan acknowledges he's a leader who "lives on stress and causes stress.”

So it's a bit remarkable (admirable too) to hear what he and his business unit have done over the past year.

On Trahan's initiative, his entire department went through mandatory two-hour sessions on mental-health awareness. When that was completed, his 22 managers and foremen participated in eight two-hour consciousness-raising workshops where they discussed mental health issues.

The result? Topics such as depression aren't necessarily as taboo as they once were. Managers and employees are now equipped to recognize some signs of mental illness, and may be more likely to suggest or seek help if needed.

From a purely selfish point of view, Trahan says, the sessions made good business sense. "Mental health is the key issue in Alberta as far as health costs are concerned," he explains. "It's a growth industry, growing exponentially, but it's not well recognized.

"I think what they (the sessions) did for us is (give us) an understanding that mental illness is a workplace problem. There's a recognition that we have to be flexible in how we address these issues, there is no cookie-cutter approach and there are no easy answers."

That's one of the key messages Jill Armstrong has been spreading since late 2002 when she rolled out a program called the Copernicus Project.

As program manager with the Canadian Mental Health Association's Calgary region, Armstrong says the program was created to stimulate dialogue in the workplace.

Because of the stigma attached to mental illness, workshops such as these have often been held in secret - even though participants were chosen as company representatives, not as people suffering from mental illness.

In Trahan's group, the stigma was removed by making the sessions mandatory. And the group - blue collar, 98 per cent male, average age of 47 - was amazing, Armstrong says.

Although there were the typical, "I'm not crazy, I don't need to go," comments, Armstrong faced no resistance as she discussed issues such as depression, stress and anxiety.

Employees recognized that they work in a suck-it-up environment, she says, where if they admit to some weakness they face becoming an outcast.

"That's their biggest fear, being cut out of the group. But people came up to me afterwards and said, 'I'm glad we're talking about this. I have a sister, a brother, a daughter (who suffer from this).' " A few people, she adds, spoke to her about their difficulty dealing with the "silence."

The Copernicus Project doesn't offer solutions, but is designed to promote understanding. Typically as groups work through case studies, participants recognize situations that happen to colleagues or even themselves.

"A lightbulb goes on," Armstrong says. "It's a bit empowering. They see how a performance issue at work that didn't make any sense might be caused by a health issue (mental or physical)."

Armstrong named the project after Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, who in 1543 announced that the Earth spun on its axis, orbiting the sun on an annual basis. He debunked the belief that the sun and other planets orbited the Earth and his conclusions became a cornerstone in the development of modern science.

It was a significant shift in thinking and required decades for acceptance. Armstrong says the same holds true for mental-health issues - where too many companies pay only lip service to the issue, where Employee Assistance Programs are underused, and where employees either don't recognize they need help, or fear seeking help because of the attached stigma.

But it is an issue employers dismiss at their peril. Armstrong notes that according to the World Health Organization, depression is expected to be the biggest health concern by 2020.

Along with heart disease, depression will be the first or second cause of premature death and disability worldwide, and that doesn't take into account other mental-health issues such as anxiety disorders and addictions.

In Canada, the Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health and Health Canada estimate the annual cost of mental illness to the Canadian economy at more than $30 billion a year. Costs include direct medical costs, short- and long-term disability claims, turnover and replacement costs, lost productivity, absenteeism, legal and insurance fees, and accidents and workers compensation awards.

In her workshops, Armstrong says the two topics people are most comfortable discussing are stress and depression.

Stress, when it becomes serious enough, can trigger depression/anxiety disorders, as can genetic and biochemical factors.

Depression - another word is burnout - manifests itself in sleeping disorders, a lack of interest in daily life, overwhelming sadness, fatigue, and in severe cases, thoughts of suicide and death.

Unfortunately in today's environment, most cases of depression are dealt with only after a person reaches a crisis, Armstrong says. At that point, instead of having intervened on a timely basis, the employee usually requires a costly leave of absence and medical treatment.

Armstrong says Trahan recognizes the economic impact of mental health and has become a champion for the cause in Calgary and nationally through various boards and committees.

This past spring, she nominated Trahan for the CMHA's outstanding community service award to be announced later this month.

In her letter of nomination, Armstrong noted that at times Trahan faced a "gruelling and uphill battle" as he spread the message throughout the corporate sector.

Some organizations still see mental-health issues as a weakness, and certainly not a legitimate business concern, she wrote.

Trahan knows otherwise. It's smart business because a healthy workplace promotes productivity and safety - which also fits his department's vision statement of treating employees with dignity.

While individual employees are at different stages in dealing with the issue at fleet services, Trahan says the biggest change he's seen is that people "don't jump to conclusions" about another individual's performance.

Unlike a year ago, they're less likely to use old knee-jerk standbys such as "suck it up."

That in itself is a good step forward.

Web Watch:
www.cmha.calgary.ab.ca

(Mike Dempster can be reached at miked@businessedge.ca)