More than 57 million Americans face mental illness in some formevery year. Research shows the direct and indirect costs of mentalhealth issues can actually have more of an impact on an employer'sbottom line than physical health.

A primary challenge in combatting mental health issues is theyremain largely hidden. In some cases, employees are not able torecognize their symptoms. In other cases, staff are afraid to askfor help for fear of being stigmatized in the office or losingtheir job.

For employers, this should be concerning for two key reasons.First and foremost, employees within a company are sufferingsilently. Help is available but, for a variety of reasons, the teamis hesitant to use those resources. Second, by letting these healthissues linger, a company faces increased costs that will only growas time passes. Consider these statistics:

• About 6 percent of employees in the average workplace have somesymptoms of depression every year.

• Whether at their desk or at home, these employees can “miss”about 27 workdays per year. About one-third of those days arelogged as formal “sick leave,” but the other 18 are due to lostproductivity while in the office.

• Perhaps most concerning, only a little more than half (57percent) of employees with major depression receive professionalhelp.

• While treatment for depression is not an instant fix, employeeswho did receive help experience an increase in their productivity.In one study, employers saw a $1,800 annual return for every $100to $400 invested in treatment.

The positive news is there are steps every employer can take tohelp identify mental health issues and connect employees withtreatment, favorably impacting the company's bottom line in theprocess.