Mental-Health Days Are Only a Band-Aid for Burnout

Two and a half years into the pandemic, burnout is still here. It is reportedly widespread across industries such as medicine, teaching, and child care; by some measures, workplace stress has only increased even as day-to-day routines have looked more “normal.” To cope, Americans—especially younger generations—are turning to the “mental-health day”: an occasional day off, perhaps with little advance notice, justified as necessary for maintaining well-being. It is, in principle, a sick day for the mind.

Companies have begun to respond: Some are rebranding sick days as “,” which employees can take for physical or mental health. One of 455 employers found that 30 percent intend to offer mental-health days within the next two years, compared with 9 percent that do so now. The concept of the mental-health day has even found. magazine recently published results of a showing that 56 percent of parents have allowed their children to take time off from school for their mental health, with another 32 percent willing to consider it.