R8| Friday, April 3, 2020 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
A
re you OK? Your co-worker wants to
know.
Companies are training employees to
recognize when colleagues might be hav-
ing mental-health struggles and to serve
as a listening ear if needed. Some compa-
nies, such as Alphabet Inc.’s Google, are turning to
the Mental Health First Aid program, a sort of CPR
protocol for emotions. Others, like American Express
Co. and consulting and accounting firm Deloitte, are
devising their own online courses and campaigns.
The goal: break through stigma, catch issues like
depressive episodes early and keep workers happy
and productive. Still, even executives acknowledge
that not everyone wants their colleagues—and po-
tentially their human-resources department—in-
volved in their mental health.
Tending to employees’ emotions has taken on ex-
tra urgency as the novel coronavirus spreads across
the U.S., sowing fear and anxiety in its wake. Job
security, pay, health and caregiving have been up-
ended, and companies face a fresh challenge: rally-
ing and keeping tabs on overwhelmed employees,
often isolated at home.
“The mental toll of it is adding up,” says Jaime-
Alexis Fowler, the founder and executive director of
Empower Work, a San Francisco-based confidential
hotline for difficult job situations.
More workers have been reaching out for help in
recent weeks, she says. Some talk of suffering from
anxiety intense enough to make them nauseous.How Those Who
Have Recovered
Can Help Covid-19
Researchers
People who have recovered from
Covid-19 can provide a potentially life-sav-
ing service by helping with research into
treatments for the disease.
The Wall Street Journal reported last
month that blood-sample shortages have
slowed down research for coronavirus
treatments.
Dr. James Crowe, director of the Van-
derbilt Vaccine Center in Nashville, Tenn.,
says his lab has collected about 10 blood
samples, including repeat samples from
the same patient. The National Institute
of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ Vac-
cine Research Center has collected sam-
ples from three recovered patients, and
several more are scheduled to donate in
the near future, says Dr. Julie Ledger-
wood, the center’s deputy director.
“The challenge currently is to get any-
thing, because there’s so much activity
around the subjects and care that it’s
hard for research people to make con-
tact,” says Dr. Crowe.
Another challenge: Some of Dr. Crowe’s
initial samples have shown that the im-
mune responses of people in the first
month are slower, so Vanderbilt is focus-
ing on acquiring samples from peoplewho are two or more months out from in-
fection. The ideal candidate would be
someone who was infected in December,
which Dr. Crowe points out is “pretty un-
usual” in the U.S.
The NIAID is focusing on studying blood
samples from recovered patients who were
healthy to begin with, as they are more
likely to have a good immune response, ac-
cording to Dr. Ledgerwood. They should
also be about two to eight weeks out of
the infection.
Both research teams are prioritizing
blood samples from cases confirmed by a
lab test. Volunteers who qualify can donate
in two ways: either by visiting the facility
in-person, paid for by the researchers, or by
shipping a blood sample if they are unable
to travel.
You can also contact the Vanderbilt Vac-
cine Center at [email protected] for addi-
tional information on participating in novel-
coronavirus drug research. —Michelle MaWith millions of people stressed
out and working from home,
mental health takes center stagePeople who have
fully recovered
from a confirmed
novel coronavirus
infection and are
interested in do-
nating blood can
contact the
National Institute
of Allergy and
Infectious
Diseases at:1-866-833-5433
(TTY
1-866-411-1010)
orrecoveredcovid
@nih.gov.They can also
learn more at
http://www.niaid.nih.gov/
about/vrc.Colleagues Become
Confidants
80
companies have
signed on to offer
their employees
Mental Health First
Aid training so far
this year, up from
58 companies in
all of last year
SPECIAL REPORT |NAVIGATING THE CORONAVIRUS
BYRACHELFEINTZEIGThey fear getting sick at work, if their
job is something they can’t do from
home, or if the boss won’t let them log
on remotely. Some fear exposing im-
munocompromised family members.
Those who had been trying to get new
jobs worry about the hiring landscape.
“A lot of times, employees just want
to feel heard,” Ms. Fowler says.
“There’s a huge opportunity for em-
ployers to be human and thoughtful
and supportive.”
Graphika, a social-media-analysis firm
based in New York, recently introduced
something called “Worry O’Clock,” a
twice-weekly video call where folks can
log in and collectively “wring our
hands,” says Sarah Braver, vice presi-
dent of people. The idea is to share is-
sues in a supportive space designated
for airing anxiety without fear of “killing
the vibe” of other meetings, she says.
Companies have been paying more
attention to how employees feel for a
while. Younger workers, many of
whom attended colleges with beefed-
up counseling services, are already
comfortable talking about things like
therapy and workplace accommoda-
tions, and expect their employers’ sup-
port. An always-on culture has left
some employees prone to burnout,
while a hot job market led many em-ployers to show they cared.
The number of companies offering
Mental Health First Aid training for
their employees is already at 80 this
year, compared with 58 for all of last
year, according to the nonprofit Na-
tional Council for Behavioral Health,
which administers the program. The
training explains signs and symptoms
of such conditions as anxiety disorders
and depression, noting examples like a
punctual colleague who suddenly
starts missing deadlines, or a meticu-
lous worker whose reports are now lit-
tered with errors.
Trainees are taught to express their
concern and to try to find out if the
person has contemplated suicide. If the
issue seems serious, they are advised
to alert managers, human resources or
designated peer-support contacts, says
Tramaine EL-Amin, who helps create
and conduct the training sessions,
which last four or eight hours.
The coronavirus outbreak has
prompted some companies to delay in-
person training, says Betsy Schwartz,
vice president of public education at
the council, but the organization is
working on shifting to online-video
training.
Meanwhile, nerves and stress are
creeping into workdays as employees
increasingly deal with such regular oc-
currences as working at home without
child care, or even just experiencing
the shock of seeing empty grocery-
store shelves. Ms. Schwartz says indi-
viduals need to be extra compassionate
and learn to use their support skills
over the phone or in a video call.
“All of that is more important now
than ever,” says Ms. Schwartz. “At the
time when we’re all really vigilant
about washing our hands constantly,
we also need to be vigilant about tak-
ing care of ourselves emotionally.”
At Google, employees can take Mental
Health First Aid training or enroll in the
company’s “blue dot” program, where
workers affix a blue sticker to their em-
ployee badge or laptop to show they are
open to talking about mental health.
They can also take a 45-minute “com-
passionate listening” course that certi-fies them as someone their colleagues
can talk to about their problems.
At marketing agency Rapp, seven
employees in the U.K. offices serve as
“mental health first aiders.” The team
offers an email address for questions
and concerns during this period with
everybody working from home.
“We want the mental-health first-
aiders to help uncover, ‘Is this some-
thing serious?’ ” says Leigh Ober,
global chief talent officer at Rapp. “We
don’t want to brush it under the rug
or ignore it. We want to be a part of
helping you work through it.”
Rapp solicited volunteers for the po-
sitions and says it selected people it
deemed trustworthy, available and not
prone to gossip.
When employees first transitioned to
remote work, they were energized and
mostly focused on logistical issues like
whether their Wi-Fi was strong enough.
Weeks in, it is now hitting some that
this could be the new normal for a long
stretch, says Ursula Marchese, head of
talent for Rapp’s U.K. operations.
Single people are starting to feel iso-
lated, parents are overwhelmed, and
many workers feel helpless and worried
about older or immunocompromised
family members, Ms. Marchese says,
adding that she’s concerned the Easterholiday might further exacerbate feel-
ings of loneliness for those who can’t
travel to see family and friends.
“People are anxious. They don’t
know what to expect. They don’t know
what they should be feeling,” she says.
Some workers would rather keep
their problems to themselves, or fear
overstepping when it comes to helping
a colleague. At Deloitte, where nearly
2,000 employees have taken the online
or in-person versions of a mental-
health training that was first offered
last May, some worry about the ramifi-
cations of intervening, says Jen Fisher,
chief well-being officer.
The company recommends employ-
ees escalate more serious mental-health
issues to its human-resources depart-
ment. People don’t want their direct
bosses to know what they are strug-
gling with, Ms. Fisher says, adding,
“There’s a fear they may be judged or it
might impact their long-term career.”
Employers can direct workers to
keep an eye on colleagues without run-
ning afoul of the law, but it is easy to
overstep, says Sharona Hoffman, a pro-
fessor of law and bioethics at Case
Western Reserve University’s School of
Law. For example, if a boss tells a
worker she knows a specific person is
struggling with a mental illness and
asks him to watch for signs, that could
be a privacy violation.
Another risk is that colleagues try to
play doctor, says Jeffrey P. Kahn, a
clinical professor of psychiatry at Weill
Cornell Medical College. Mental Health
First Aid leaders and corporate execu-
tives say they are not teaching workers
to diagnose mental-health disorders.
But Dr. Kahn fears the temptation for
armchair psychiatry is still there. He
also doubts nonprofessionals can effec-
tively identify colleagues who are
struggling with mental illness.
“Significant emotional problems are
often hard to notice,” he says. “People
try to act professionally and hide their
problems.”Ms. Feintzeigisareporterfor
The Wall Street Journal in New York.
Email [email protected]. FROM TOP: MARTIN TOGNOLA; ROBIN UTRECHT/SOPA IMAGES/ZUMA PRESSA New York firm recently introduced what it calls
‘Worry O’Clock,’ a twice-weekly video call where
people can collectively ‘wring our hands.’