Two recent surveys about employee mental health challenges set the core agenda for the NPF Covering Workplace Mental Health Fellowship. First, Barb Solish, national director of program innovation with the National Alliance on Mental Illness, cited survey data that highlights intensifying worker stress despite the existence of mental health support.
In the 2026 NAMI-Ipsos Workplace Mental Health Poll, while 75% of employees believed it was appropriate to discuss mental health at work, only 61% actually felt comfortable doing so. Solish underscored this difference—a concept she termed a “comfort gap.’
“That’s where stigma lives, that gap,” she explained. NAMI’s Stigma-Free Workplace initiative offers employers and employees alike with no-cost resources and tools to prioritize mental well-being.
Solish also identified a lack of mental health support training and high burnout rates for managers, despite the critical role they play in connecting employees with resources and lessening workloads.
“The managers who are asked to carry everyone else are burning out at these alarming rates of 73% when they don’t have support,” Solish said. “Who’s supporting our supporters?”
Justine Mitsock, vice president of Workforce Mental Health at Lyra Health, outlined Lyra’s 2026 State of Workforce Mental Health Report.
A key issue she pinpointed included the rise of complex issues that require specialized care, made worse by conditions such as neurodivergence and emerging stressors like AI. Like Solish, she also highlighted the need to support managers.
“These managers really are the linchpin into these healthy organizations, and so we really need to wrap our arms around them and make sure that they have the resources to help their employees create…psychologically safe environments at the same time they’re trying to fill their own cup,” Mitsock said.
Both Solish and Mitsock provided comprehensive context that can help journalists analyze whether organizations are making credible efforts to implement change.
“Companies may actually be spending a lot of money on these programs… but if no one knows they exist, then in practice they don’t exist,” Solish said.
“Access to mental health has gotten much better,” Mitsock said. “There’s been a big improvement, but we’re still at this paradox where although there’s access, people are still not well, right? People are still suffering and new challenges come into the fold every time.”
Read the full transcript here.
This program is sponsored by the Luv U Project, with associate sponsor the American Psychological Association. The National Press Foundation is solely responsible for its content.
