The vast majority of line managers do not feel they have adequate
information about how to manage people with mental health problems, according
to a charity.
Mind Out for Mental Health found 70 per cent of line managers polled were
worried about having inadequate information, and just 7 per cent believed the
information they had was tailored to their needs.
Only 9 per cent believed the information available to them was easily
applied to a workplace setting, and 66 per cent of line managers described
themselves as a ‘learner’ or ‘novice’ when it came to mental health issues.
Twenty-four per cent thought their organisations had adequate policies in place,
and only 2 per cent were confident they could manage a person with a mental
health condition well.
The survey of managers and line managers also found that many were left in
the dark about their employees’ medical status, or how best to manage them.
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"I had to line manage someone with a bi-polar condition, although it
was only named in retrospect," said one manager. "I’d had no previous
experience of this condition and learned much from the employee herself."
Another said: "There’s a cultural belief that people are to blame for
their own mental illness, and that makes it very hard to own up to and seek
help."
