Episode summary
Proactive Mental Health Support Can Support Global Economy | Bloomberg Businessweek
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily
· · Hosts: Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec · Guests: Sam Miley, Andrea Christie-David
Summary
A new global study argues that major life events, not just day-to-day workplace stress, create a measurable drag on output and health. The research, based on more than 13,000 workers across several major markets, estimates that divorce, bereavement, becoming a parent or carer, and similar events contribute to $636 billion in lost productivity and 1.7 billion working days lost globally each year.
Sam Miley said the point of the analysis was to quantify how those life events translate into workplace outcomes such as time off, reduced performance, and slower returns to work. He argued that the strongest conclusion is the value of being proactive: workers who took earlier action around their mental health were absent fewer days, and the study estimates that earlier support could save $42 billion and recover 108 million working days annually.
Andrea Christie-David said the practical answer is to normalize mental health conversations and make support easier to access before a crisis hits. She pointed to clinics, low-cost models, and public funding as ways to reduce barriers, while also noting that employers, families, and governments all have a role in making major life transitions less damaging to well-being and productivity.
Key takeaways
- Sam Miley said the study found earlier mental health support could save $42 billion and recover 108 million working days annually.
- The research estimates major life events are linked to $636 billion in lost productivity and 1.7 billion working days lost each year.
- Andrea Christie-David said proactive support means normalizing conversations, offering practical tools, and making care easier to access before people hit a breaking point.
- The survey covered more than 13,000 workers and found that recent life events affected both emotional health and workplace performance.
- Sam Miley said the main business lesson is that being open and proactive helps both individuals and organizations, not just the economy overall.
Notable quotes
“Major life events, I mean, losing a loved one, coming back to work after becoming a parent, going through a divorce, those things can have significant impacts”
“The research found that those who were proactive were able to return to work faster suffered less of a productivity impact”
“It means normalizing it, right? We are all going to experience challenges with our mental health from time to time and it's okay to talk about it”
“So it's quite a large share of people are going through this at any given time”
“the global economy is if you measure it through GDP is about $126 trillion. So we're talking about $636 billion in loss productivity”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios podcasts, radio, news. — You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Tim Stenc on Bloomberg Radio. — Carol got this on our radar this morning uh on our editorial call. Climate change contributing to higher nighttime temperatures that are causing people to lose an average of almost 56 hours of sleep a year and threatening health. This is according to a new study.
I definitely hear from people. It's just it's so hot. I can't sleep. I'm not, you know, sleeping well. And you know, Tim and I, — It doesn't help to have the electric company say, "Put your thermostat at 78 degrees to
That's why you sleep with an ice pack or something." But no, but you and I talk about every time we go to a doctor, it's like, "How are you sleeping? Are you getting sleep?" How important it is to help.
Well, it's not just warmer temps that can keep us up at night. Major life events, I mean, losing a loved one, coming back to work after becoming a parent, going through a divorce, those things can have significant impacts when it comes to mental health and of course productivity as well. We've got Sam Miley with us, head of forecasting and thought leadership at the Center for Economics and Business Research.
Also, Andrea Christie David, director of mental health at the International Private Healthcare Company, BOPA. Sam joins us from Madrid. Andrea is in Sydney.
Sam, I want to start with you because you you're you and the folks at the Center for Economic and Economics and Business Research were behind this study and $42 billion a year is is the number that is lost in or at least could be saved if we figure out how to handle this proactively.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- mental health support
- workplace productivity
- lost working days
- economic modeling
- employee wellbeing
Companies and tickers mentioned
- Centre for Economics and Business Research
- Bupa
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Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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