This document provides tips on how to manage mental health using product management techniques. It discusses defining metrics to monitor mental health, establishing thresholds to indicate when help is needed, and creating an action plan. Metrics could include mood, sleep, energy and caffeine intake. Thresholds may be feeling depressed for 4+ days a week for 3 weeks. The action plan includes seeing a therapist or reaching out to friends when thresholds are met. The document also discusses how employers can support mental health by promoting inclusion, offering employee assistance programs, and creating support networks. The goal is to improve productivity and retention while reducing costs from mental health issues.

1. How to Product
Manage Your
Mental Health
BETH ANNE KATZ
PRODUCT MANAGER

2. Agenda
1. Introduction
2. Impact and opportunity
3. How to manage your mental health using product management techniques
4. What organizations can do to support mental health at work
5. Q&A

3. Trigger Warning
DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, SUICIDAL IDEATION,
DISORDERED EATING

4. Let me introduce
myself…

5. 2009
2017
2019
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2010-2016

6. Takeaways
1. Live with mental health conditions
2. Developed and used the following system to manage and improve my mental
health
3. This system can help you:
1. Better understand and measure your mental health
2. Reduce time to detection and time to resolution for mental health issues
3. Increase mental health “uptime” for yourself and your organization

7. Why is this
important?

8. Mental Illness Affects us
at Work
Almost 15%
of employees
experience a
mental health
condition in
the workplace
Mental health UK
1 in 5 US
adults is
affected by
mental
illness in a
given year
NAMI
1/3 of employers
would not
believe
information on a
sick note from an
employee with a
mental health
issue
Harvard Business Review
Employees who
disclose a mental
illness more
often face
repercussions at
work, like
demotion or
dismissal
Harvard Business Review

9. Mental Illness Affects us
at Work
$1 trillion is lost
in productivity
annually due to
depression and
anxiety
World Health Organization

10. Takeaways
Supporting mental health in the workplace
can:
1. Improve presenteeism and absenteeism
2. Improve productivity
3. Increase success of workers returning from
mental health leave
4. Improve retention
“Workplaces that
promote mental health
and support people
with mental disorders
are more likely to
reduce absenteeism,
increase productivity
and benefit from
associated economic
gains.”
World Health Organization

11. What You’ll Learn
1. What you as an individual can do for your mental health at work
2. What organizations can do for mental health at work

12. Disclaimer
I am not a doctor or a trained medical or mental health professional. The advice within
this presentation should not be taken as medical advice.

13. What can I do?
As an individual

14. Framework
Product Investment
1. Define scenario metrics
2. Establish alerting or success thresholds
3. Create execution plan

15. Framework
Product Investment
1. Define scenario metrics
2. Establish alerting or success thresholds
3. Create execution plan
Mental Health
1. Determine health metrics
2. Establish change thresholds
3. Create action plan

16. Identify Indicators
STEP 1

17. Check in
with
yourself
What things do
I notice myself
doing on good
vs bad days?
Is today a good,
bad, or neutral
mental health
day?

18. Some common signs to look for…
Mood Sleeping habits Energy levels
Caffeine intake

19. Let’s explore your indicators
◦ Think of 3-5 scenarios that indicate your mental health state
(just need concepts now, not any numbers)
◦ Write them down

20. Determine
Thresholds
STEP 2

21. Let’s get concrete
◦ Now that you know behaviors to look out for, let’s figure out thresholds
◦ Using your scenarios you brainstormed earlier, think about what thresholds mean good
health vs bad health
◦ Specifically, answer the question of when your scenarios indicate you would want to make
changes or seek help
◦ Think both about how individual metrics can show this and how many of your overall metrics
need to be in a bad state before taking action
◦ These should be numbers-driven on top of your behaviors

22. Some examples…
Mood Sleeping habits Energy levels
Feeling
depressed,
anxious, or
irritable for 4 or
more days per
week, for three
weeks in a row
Having trouble
waking up 4
times per week
or more, for
three weeks in
a row
Feeling more
tired than usual
3 times per
week or more,
for three weeks
in a row
Will get
help
when ¾
metrics
triggered
Caffeine Intake
Increased daily
caffeine intake
4 or more days
per week

23. Attention
◦ There are some mental health triggers you should seek professional help for immediately,
including:
◦ Thoughts of death or suicide
◦ Thoughts of harm to self or others
◦ Persistent serious symptoms that affect quality of life, including anxiety and depression

24. One last thing…
◦ Consider using a mood tracking app like Daylio to get concrete metrics on your mood

25. Create Continuity
Plan
STEP 3

26. Let’s get concrete
◦ Now that you know exactly when to get help, let’s figure out how you’ll address your mental
health in times of need
◦ What actions do you take to improve your mental health?

27. Some common ones to consider…
Set up a therapy
appointment
Reach out to a trusted
friend
Aggressively prioritize sleep,
the gym, other self-care
Reduce commitments

28. Let’s get concrete
◦ Now that you know exactly when to get help, let’s figure out how you’ll address your mental
health in times of need
◦ What actions do you take to improve your mental health?
◦ Come up with 3-5 actionable steps you'll take to seek help when your metrics indicate your
mental health needs attention

29. One last thing…
◦ Keep this plan somewhere handy, like in your phone, for easy access during times of need

30. Example

31. Example | Software
1. Identify scenarios
Reviewed key product success metrics weekly
2. Determine thresholds
Noticed an increase in failure cases
3. Execute on continuity plan
Invested in improved repair feature, increased success metric above threshold

32. Example | Mental Health
1. Identify scenarios
1. Reviewed key mental health metrics daily
2. Determine thresholds
1. Noticed increase in caffeine intake, weight, trouble waking up
2. Noticed decrease in mood, energy levels
3. Execute on continuity plan
1. Started with new therapist to address and improve specific issues, saw stabilization of symptoms
2. Eventually changed jobs, saw improvement of symptoms

33. What can I do?
As an organization

34. Impact
The potential impacts of supporting good
mental health in the workplace are:
1. Improved productivity
2. Reduced turnover
3. Improved profits
4. Increased manager and IC education of
mental health
5. Attracting and retaining talent
“Mental health problems can have an
impact on employers and businesses
directly through increased absenteeism,
high staff turnover and poor performance;
they also can have a negative impact on
productivity and profits, as well as cause an
increase in costs to deal with the issue.”
Forbes

35. What Employers Can Do
1. Think about how to integrate mental health into your whole organization
2. Promote inclusive hiring
3. Establish an Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
4. Bring in and support proven mental health literacy programs
5. Create support networks and safe spaces for mental health
Forbes

36. What
Employers
Can Do
Promote genuine stories of
diversity, inclusion, and
belonging
The current data indicate the following
strategies be considered by mental
illness stakeholders and the general
public to improve attitudes and
behaviors toward persons with mental
illness and promote social
inclusion… ensur[ing] balance in
broadcasting by encouraging stories
about recovery, accomplishment, and
contributions by people with mental
illness” (CDC).

37. Thank you