This week marks Mental Health Awareness Week, running from 11th to 17th May 2026. This year, the theme focuses on action, not just awareness.
Awareness matters. It has opened up conversations that were once avoided. However, for employers, advisers and decision‑makers, awareness alone is no longer sufficient. The data shows that mental health is no longer a side issue; it is now one of the biggest drivers of workplace absence, healthcare claims and lost productivity.
The Rising Impact of Mental Health on Healthcare Claims
Recent employee benefits data shows that mental health accounts for up to 7% of all monthly healthcare claims, making it one of the fastest‑growing areas of employer‑funded medical support. This proportion has risen steadily as more employees seek help for anxiety, depression and stress-related conditions, often because NHS waiting times for mental health services remain lengthy.
What is particularly striking is that this is not limited to long‑term or severe illness. Many of these claims relate to early intervention, such as counselling, talking therapies and psychiatric assessments, as employers and employees try to address problems before they escalate.
That shift is positive, but it also highlights just how widespread mental health challenges have become within the UK workforce.
Workplace Pressures and Mental Health
The latest figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) leave little room for doubt. In 2024/25, an estimated:
- 964,000 workers experienced work‑related stress, depression or anxiety
- Mental health conditions accounted for over half of all work‑related ill health cases
- 40.1 million working days were lost to work‑related illness and injury overall
Mental health continues to be the single biggest contributor to these figures, and levels remain well above pre‑pandemic norms.
For employers, this is not just a wellbeing issue, it is also an operational and financial one.
Counting the Cost: The Financial Impact of Poor Mental Health
From an economic perspective, the impact is stark:
- Poor mental health costs UK employers between £42 billion and £56 billion each year, driven by absence, presenteeism and staff turnover (CIPD).
- Mental ill health is now the leading cause of long‑term sickness absence (CIPD).
- Mental health conditions account for roughly 40% to 60% of working days lost due to ill health, depending on the sector (HSE).
Put simply, mental health is now one of the biggest risks facing organisations, even if it does not always seem as visible as physical injury or illness.
Mental Health Awareness Week: Why It Still Matters
Against that backdrop, Mental Health Awareness Week is not merely symbolic. It is a chance to step back and ask a more practical question: are our policies, benefits and everyday behaviours genuinely supporting good mental health?
For many businesses, the answer is mixed.
Employee assistance programmes, private medical cover and wellbeing initiatives all play a role, but only when people know they exist, feel able to use them and trust that doing so won’t carry a stigma.
That is where awareness can still make a difference. Starting conversations, encouraging early support and making mental health part of everyday leadership help move support from theory into practice.
Mental Health Awareness Week is a timely reminder that progress does not arise from a single campaign or policy. It comes from consistent, thoughtful action, backed by evidence and a genuine understanding of the pressures people face.
If you need advice on supporting your employees, contact our team at tcms@thomas-carroll.co.uk. We also offer a range of online courses to help with employee wellbeing.
