Mental Health and Productivity at Work

Why Mental Health Matters More Than Ever for Productivity

In today’s fast‑moving workplace, productivity is profit, and a crucial contributor to productivity at work is often overlooked: our mental health.

When employees’ mental well‑being is neglected, the human and business costs can be significant. On the flip side, when organizations support mental health, everyone wins—energy, focus, creativity, retention, and performance all improve.

Here’s a look at how mental health and productivity intersect, why it matters for businesses, and what organizations can do to make a difference.

The Link Between Mental Health and Productivity

Multiple studies strongly indicate that poor mental health correlates with reduced productivity—both in terms of absenteeism (time away from work) and presenteeism (being at work but not fully functioning).

• A critical review found that most studies (38 in total) show a clear association between mental disorders (especially depression and anxiety) and lost productivity in the workplace.

• The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that an astounding 12 billion working days are lost globally each year due to depression and anxiety—with an economic cost of about US$1 trillion in lost productivity.

• In Japan alone, one study of over 27,000 workers found productivity losses due to mental health–related presenteeism amounted to tens of billions of dollars—representing roughly 1.1 % of GDP.

Mental health isn’t a fringe concern but central to how work gets done.

The Mental Health and Productivity Connection: The Mechanisms

Why exactly does mental health impact productivity so strongly? A few pathways stand out:

• Cognitive load and distraction: Anxiety, depression, or ongoing stress can impair concentration, decision‑making, memory and attention—the basic “tools” we all need to work well.

• Absenteeism & presenteeism: When someone is mentally unwell, they might miss work entirely—or show up but operate at reduced capacity. The costs in lost hours and reduced output add up.

• Burnout and disengagement: Poor mental health often leads to emotional exhaustion, reduced motivation, and less willingness or ability to go “above and beyond.”

• Work environment and culture: The workplace itself matters. According to WHO, poor working conditions—excessive workloads, low job control, job insecurity, discrimination—pose significant risks to mental health.

• Return on investment: Interventions matter. One applied study found that when employees with mental health challenges received coaching via an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), absenteeism dropped by 88 % and self‑reported productivity increased by 32 %.

  
  

Why Organizations Should Care

From a business perspective, the stakes are high:

• Talent retention & morale: When mental health is ignored, turnover rises, morale drops, and institutional knowledge walks out the door.

• Sustainable performance: It’s not just about working harder—employees need to perform consistently, creatively, and with resilience. That requires mental well‑being.

• Financial impact: With productivity losses in the trillions globally, any intervention that improves mental health has real ROI potential.

• Organizational culture: A workplace that supports mental health fosters engagement, psychological safety, and better team dynamics. The article from Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) points out how mental‑health challenges among employees create direct productivity risks for HR and business leadership.

What Works: Evidence‑Based Actions for Mental Health and Productivity

Given these facts, what can organizations and teams do?

• Prevent psychosocial risks: Address workload, job design, control, career development, discrimination, and work‑life balance.

• Promote mental health proactively: Training in emotional regulation, stress management, embodied practices (like breathing or movement), and creating a culture of support.

• Provide access to support & treatment: EAPs, coaching, therapy access—studies show that these reduce absence and improve productivity.

• Measure and monitor: Track metrics such as absenteeism, turnover, presenteeism, self‑reported well‑being—and link them to business outcomes to make the case for investment.

• Embed into daily work: It’s not just “one‑and‑done”. Mental health support must be integrated into how teams work, how leaders lead, and how employees connect to purpose and self‑care.

Mental health isn’t a “nice to have”—it’s a business imperative. Employees carry their minds, bodies, and emotions into work every day. When mental well‑being is supported, productivity, creativity, focus, and engagement follow. When it’s neglected, the cost is real—both human and financial.

By making mental health integral to your team’s performance strategy, you don’t just reduce losses—you unlock potential. Because healthy minds don’t just work… they thrive.

How Nutrition Effects Mental Health and Productivity

Mental health is deeply intertwined with nutrition, both through the foods we eat and the way we relate to our bodies. Here are just a few of the ways:

• Macronutrient quality and distribution—adequate protein, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates—support stable blood sugar, neurotransmitter production, and sustained energy

• Micronutrients such as B vitamins, magnesium, zinc, and omega-3s play critical roles in mood regulation, cognitive function, and stress resilience.

• Chrononutrition—the timing of meals—affects circadian rhythms and sleep quality, further influencing emotional stability.

• How we connect with our bodies through embodied awareness, tuning into hunger and fullness cues, and fostering a positive food relationship strengthens our capacity for self-regulation and emotional resilience.

• Gut health and metabolic function are also central: a balanced microbiome and healthy digestion support neurotransmitter signaling and reduce inflammation linked to anxiety and depression.

Ultimately, the way we nourish our bodies, respect our internal cues, and cultivate a mindful, embodied approach to eating shapes not only physical well-being but our emotional and cognitive performance, self-perception, and resilience in daily life.

Joanna Pustilnik MS RDN CDCES CIEC is a somatic mental health and intuitive nutritionist and Certified Feminine Embodiment Coach who provides 1:1 virtual support for all things food relationship and mental health and nutrition. She also runs corporate workshops on the topics of embodiment, nutrition, mental health, joy, and self-care.

Citations:

• Chisholm, D., et al. (2022). Mental health and work productivity: A review. PMC9663290

• Hossain, M. D., et al. (2023). Impact of mental health on workplace productivity. PubMed 40436621

• World Health Organization (WHO). (2023). Mental health at work. WHO Fact Sheet

• Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). (2023). Worker mental health: Challenges, productivity risk, and HR strategies. SHRM Article

• Sharma, A., et al. (2023). Mental health interventions and productivity in the workplace. International Journal of Scientific & Research Publications, 13(4). IJSRP PDF