2020 and the impact on employee mental health
If we can learn from 2020 how to better take care of ourselves and each other, we will all be better able to weather whatever comes next.
2020 is not going to last forever. The loneliness so many of us are feeling, and the uncertainty of what’s to come are incredibly difficult to endure over time. But things will look up.
Many of us would like to forget this year. It has been hard on us—financially, emotionally and in terms of our and our families’ health. Work-life balance can be hard to recognize with so much of our lives carried out on screens. The extent of the struggle has felt at times unnecessary, and none of us have known or made every best decision in navigating it.
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My hope for us is that we may learn from this period. Surely we will weather more storms in the future, and surely there are lessons we can recognize now to feel more fulfilled, stable and resilient as we face them.
The numbers don’t lie. Amidst the pandemic and economic slow-down, there is a very real and less visible epidemic of loneliness. Multiple studies have shown marked increases in mental health issues due to the coronavirus pandemic and its social implications. Over time, isolation and loneliness have a very real impact on our well-being, including on long-term health outcomes. It can affect sleeping and eating patterns as well as promote alcohol and substance use. We’re also more sedentary than we were before the pandemic, which has documented effects on physical and mental health.
Patterns of anxiety and depressive disorder were also found to have increased over this summer. And it makes sense. The constant state of stress and uncertainty, and our bodies’ physiological response are not sustainable over the long-term. Fight or flight mode is supposed to kick in so that we react appropriately during emergencies. But what if the emergency, the uncertainty, the need to react and adapt, is ongoing? For six months? For a year?
What’s more, many people don’t have their typical access to mental health support. Some services aren’t available, and scheduling can be especially tough with the added constraints of homeschooling and the health risks of travel. Without going into an office, we’re more confined to the geographic area where we live.
Before the pandemic, there was already a gap in access to mental health care, and there was already a stigma preventing many people from seeking support. Today, we have more barriers to receiving help, on top of many more people who need it. It’s clear that in 2020, many people haven’t been getting the mental health care they need.
Among the contributors to increased anxiety are work-related stressors like job instability and a lack of boundaries. Breakfast may overlap with remote learning assistance. Meetings are scheduled around childcare, the workday bleeds into dinner, and it can be hard to distinguish a weekend from another day at the home office (which you may share with your spouse or roommate’s home office). It’s exhausting, over time, to try to maintain a sense of balance, control, or normalcy under these circumstances.
Harder still is the inability to enjoy some of our typical relief with friends and loved ones. That human connection, venting after work, or relaxing in the company of someone who “gets it,” are invaluable to us as people. Many of us haven’t been able to see our extended families for most of this year. It’s beneficial to us to be able to find commonality and to release our stress through social interaction. We do need that as humans, and the restriction of not being able to interact and unwind socially has a real impact on us.
It’s no wonder the top reasons people chose to connect with someone, even a stranger, in 2020 align with these strains from our new reality. According to insights we’ve drawn at from Listeners On Call, a network of on-call, anonymous listeners, the top five topics on which callers want to connect this year have been:
- Need to vent
- Social isolation
- Feeling alone
- Feeling overwhelmed
- Parenting challenges
Sound familiar? These are all such relatable and basic things to be feeling right now. But that doesn’t make them any easier to endure alone month after month. Our platform connects callers anonymously to a person who is trained to listen and who has actually dealt with a similar situation (think of it like the Uber of empathy). Within a few minutes, we can connect people with someone who understands — providing that outlet and relief.
We all know intuitively that social and emotional support are beneficial to us, which is why we miss our friends and our happy hours. But there is a growing body of research on the physical impact of this support on our health, including cardiovascular and kidney health, stress resilience, and overall mortality. So there’s no denying that we should use whatever resources are available to stay socially connected.
None of us are going to soon forget 2020, and I don’t think we should try. It doesn’t take much to see the lessons here. We need to lean in to connection, to what makes us human and what makes us feel happy and secure. Our work environments, our kids’ schooling, and our ability to eat at restaurants are sure to continue changing into 2021. But if we can learn from 2020 how to better take care of ourselves and each other despite that uncertainty, we will all be better able to weather it.
What I’m taking into 2021 is a realization of the power of social support, and the individual power that comes with reaching out. I think the more people realize and use that power, the better off we’ll be. So let’s all accept that it is normal to not feel okay right now. To not feel productive every day, to not feel completely fulfilled, and to not independently have everything we need all of the time. But let’s also acknowledge that we can take healthy steps to help ourselves feel better.
Jason Franzen is president of Listeners On Call.
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