Why Employees Don’t Speak Up About Mental Health at Work
By Louise Dennison O’Shaughnessy
Many organisations encourage people to speak up.
But encouragement alone isn’t enough.
In most cases, people already know when something isn’t right.
The challenge is whether they feel safe raising it.
Most people don’t stay silent because they don’t care about their wellbeing. They stay silent because they’re weighing up the perceived risks.
- Will I be treated differently?
- Will my career suffer?
- Will people see me as unable to cope?
Until those questions are answered through experience rather than policy, silence often feels like the safer option.
Hesitation often comes from:
- Previous experiences
- Uncertainty about how concerns will be received
- Fear of judgement or consequences
This is where psychological safety becomes critical. Psychological safety means people believe they can ask for help, admit mistakes or raise concerns without fear of embarrassment, punishment or damage to their career.
I was delivering a session on a construction site last year when a supervisor came over to me during the break. He’d spent fifteen years in the trade and wasn’t the type of person who would normally stop to chat.
He’d gone through a separation a couple of years earlier and wasn’t sleeping properly. Gradually, things started to slip. A measurement was wrong. A delivery wasn’t chased. He missed a meeting that, under normal circumstances, he could have run in his sleep.
His manager noticed and quietly asked if everything was okay.
He replied, “I’m grand.”
Six weeks later, he didn’t come into work on Monday morning.
He was signed off for four months.
I asked him afterwards what had stopped him speaking up when things first started to unravel.
He never mentioned the posters in the canteen.
He never mentioned the wellbeing week.
He never mentioned the employee assistance number printed on the back of his ID card.
Instead, he told me about another worker.
Two years earlier, someone on the same site had spoken to their manager about struggling with their mental health. Within a month, they had been moved off the main project onto snagging work. Nobody ever said the two events were connected.
But everyone believed they were.
So when it came to his own situation, that was the story he remembered.
Not the policy.
Not the awareness campaign.
The last person who spoke up.
The company lost four months of an experienced supervisor because a twenty-minute conversation felt like too much of a risk.
And every person on that crew now had another story reinforcing the belief that speaking up comes at a cost.
This is why leaders should ask themselves a different question.
Instead of asking:
“Why didn’t they tell us sooner?”
Ask:
“What in our organisation made staying silent feel like the safer option?”
Silence allows problems to grow.
When people don’t speak up early, organisations don’t just lose productivity. They lose experience, continuity, team confidence and, often, the opportunity to intervene before a manageable issue becomes a prolonged absence.
Under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, employers have a duty to protect the safety, health and welfare of their employees. That includes identifying and managing workplace risks that can affect psychological wellbeing. Creating an environment where people feel able to raise concerns early is an important part of fulfilling that responsibility.
Building trust isn’t about a single wellbeing campaign or an annual awareness week. It comes from what people see happen every day.
Creating a workplace where people genuinely feel able to speak up requires:
- Managers checking in regularly, not just when performance drops.
- Consistent leadership responses.
- Following through when concerns are raised.
- Protecting confidentiality wherever possible.
- Leaders demonstrating that asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness.
- Trust built over time through everyday actions.
Your speak-up culture isn’t defined by what’s written in the handbook.
It’s defined by what happened to the last person who spoke up.
So ask yourself one final question.
If one of your employees was struggling today, would they genuinely believe they could tell their manager?
If you’re not sure, that’s where the work starts.
At EHS International, we support organisations in creating psychologically safer workplaces through practical mental health training, leadership development and wellbeing programmes that help build trust, strengthen leadership and create cultures where people feel safe to speak up.
Thank you for reading about: Why Employees Don’t Speak Up About Mental Health at Work.
About the Author: Louise Dennison O’Shaughnessy
Louise Dennison O’Shaughnessy is the Director of Mental Health & Wellness at EHS International, specialising in workplace mental health training and resilience-building. With over a decade of experience, Louise is a certified Mental Health Instructor, First Aid Trainer, and registered EMT. She is passionate about fostering supportive work environments, reducing absenteeism, and improving employee well-being through innovative training programmes.
Book Mental Health First Aid Training Here
Resources for those in need of Mental Health Support.
At EHS International, we believe that having access to the right support at the right time can make all the difference. That’s why we’ve carefully curated a comprehensive list of trusted organisations dedicated to crisis intervention, counselling, and ongoing mental health services.
Moreover, these resources are designed to empower individuals, families, and workplaces with the tools and guidance they need to navigate mental health challenges effectively. Whether you’re seeking immediate assistance, exploring long-term support, or looking for ways to help someone in need, these organisations are ready to step in.
EHS International, are committed to fostering a community of care and resilience, and we aim to ensure that no one has to face mental health challenges alone.
Visit the EHS International Mental Health Hub
Crisis and Mental Health Support Services If you or someone you care about is in crisis and requires immediate support, please contact the Samaritans or one of the services listed below. The Samaritans provide confidential, non-judgmental assistance 24/7. Call 116 123 in the Republic of Ireland or 08457 90 90 90 in Northern Ireland, email them, or visit their website at www.samaritans.ie to find the nearest branch.
