This year’s Women’s History Month, beginning March 1, honors the women who embrace and uplift people of all backgrounds, races, genders, ages, and perspectives. Throughout history, women have advocated for equal opportunities for all people, knowing that we all benefit when everyone thrives.  At Calm, we honor and celebrate the women who are using their expertise, artistry, and voices to help others live healthier, happier lives. A Calm survey of more than 4,000 adults shows that an alarming percentage of people are struggling with anxiousness, depression, sleep, focus and grief. Sixty-ei ..read more

Amid the nonstop turbulence of the past four years, employers have made great strides in supporting employee mental health. It’s not enough, Calm research shows. Employer commitment to workforce mental health and well-being has never been stronger. More than half of organizations are making benefits decisions based primarily on employee feedback, for example. About two-thirds have enhanced their EAPs, and 4 of 10 have simplified health and benefits navigation.  Yet the majority of employees (69%) aren’t feeling any better, according to Calm’s survey of more than 4,000 workers in the Unite ..read more

Daryl, a VP at a technology company, has noticed changes in the behavior of a high-performing employee on his team. Joanne is often arriving late to meetings and appears distracted. When he raises the subject, she breaks down in tears, revealing that she’s exhausted from caring for her mother who moved in after a stroke. Her mother’s needs are escalating, but Joanne and her husband can’t afford long-term care and haven’t found a qualified in-home caregiver. Distraught about her mother’s health and her declining work performance, Joanne decides she needs to leave her job to focus on her mother ..read more

This year’s Black History Month celebrates the immeasurable contributions of African Americans to the arts. In every field of artistic expression, Black artists, creators, and performers have made a profound impact, shining a light on the culture, triumphs, and struggles of Black people throughout history and today. Their works move, uplift, and inspire. And they reinforce the need to do more to eliminate racial inequities and support Black mental health and well-being. Black mental health disparities When people experience repeated discrimination over time—microaggressions at work, bullying ..read more

Workplace challenges aren’t the only source of employee stress that organizations need to address. Constant exposure to negative world news, disturbing information, and distressing images is a major driver of employee stress and anxiety and can take a toll on the health of employees and the organization.  A strong majority of American adults are anxious about inflation (76%), gun violence (69%), and climate change (61%), for example. Two-thirds of Americans (67%) reported feeling anxious to very anxious about international conflicts even before the escalation of the Middle East crisis in ..read more

With employee stress and depression rates at historic highs and more than half of employees “quietly quitting,” employers are making mental health access a top priority this year. Today, we’re excited to announce that Calm has teamed up with Microsoft Teams to create a new standard for employee access to mental health support in the workplace. “In the new world of hybrid work, employees need compelling tools that help them reduce stress, stay focused, and connect with each other,” said Ben Summers, director, Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365 Platform Marketing. “That’s why we’ve collaborated w ..read more

The January Blues are back. The post-holiday let down, the return to the grind, and gloomy weather in much of the country could combine to make record high levels of employee sadness, stress, and exhaustion even worse. What can you do to support your teams that you haven’t tried already? Encourage workers (as appropriate) to put on their headphones and test out some tunes.  Music can get a bad rap in the workplace—it can be distracting, disruptive, or even offensive. For these reasons, some workplaces elect to ban music and music devices altogether. But don’t overlook the potential benefi ..read more

Goal setting is a fundamental part of the employee experience. Most organizations value and reward employees when they meet or exceed agreed-upon goals and expectations. But when goals are unrealistic or don’t have a plan behind them, they can create anxiety or set us up for failure. New Year’s resolutions are a prime example. Just 5% of Americans who typically make New Year’s resolutions actually adhere to them for a full year. Instead of feeling inspired by their resolutions, nearly half of people feel pressured by them, and one third feel they’re a chore.  Support employee “growth sett ..read more

Even before COVID, there was a high level of exhaustion in healthcare. Caring for patients is a stressful job by nature, but amid a nursing shortage, nurses and doctors were working strenuous hours and were emotionally taxed. Patients’ needs came first, which meant our doctors and nurses were putting their own health and well-being on the backburner. And then the pandemic turned the healthcare world upside down. The nursing shortage got worse as stress and burnout resulted in more nurses quitting and looking for jobs outside the high-pressured hospital setting. Coupled with that, health system ..read more

In this era of discrimination, invisibility, and psychological warfare, people in the Black community need so much more than mental health or well-being. They need an “impermeable web of protection” for the mind, explains Rheeda Walker, PhD. A licensed clinical psychologist, tenured professor, researcher, and author, Dr. Walker has dedicated nearly two decades to advancing the mental and emotional health of African Americans through empowerment. She wrote The Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health and the Unapologetic Workbook for Black Mental Health, she says, to help people understand and ..read more