Let's talk honestly about stress in the workplace
3 ways to encourage mental wellness and help employees thrive in stressful times.
The elephant is in the room and it’s not going to simply disappear. As organizational leaders, we can no longer ignore our employees’ emotional wellbeing. Stress is real, folks, and it’s time to meet it head on — with compassion.
If you need more incentive, consider these statistics:
- 18- to 39-year-olds report the highest rates of anxiety and depression in the U.S.
- One in three workers believe the return-to-office shift negatively impacted their mental health with pervasive workplace stigma surrounding mental or substance-use disorders exacerbating the decline.
- A 2020 study of 1,000 American workers, 80% said they would consider quitting their current position for a job that focused more on employees’ mental health.
If you think it’s not your business to help your employees, think again. Depression and anxiety have a significant economic impact with an estimated cost of $1 trillion a year to the global economy in lost productivity, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Conversely, WHO found that for every dollar invested in treatment for common mental disorders, there is a return of $4 in improved health and productivity.
And yet, taking care of our mental and physical health and setting boundaries is foreign to our society — and that’s telling. We have been taught to ignore our own better judgment, instinct and inner wisdom. Our society has created a culture that values those who can push through the pain, no matter the personal toll.
Isolation is the underlying problem
Over the years, we’ve become an isolated people. That’s not how human beings are wired. We’re wired to process our lives together, to do life together. We all have the same issues and we’re suffering in our experience. Being alone in our challenges as human beings have become the norm — and that’s not how we’re designed.
On a macro level, mental health issues are caused by isolation and systemically that’s how we live. There are things we have learned to not discuss, reveal and keep private. Systemically and socially it’s not okay to have certain dialogues. It’s not okay to reveal around mental health issues.
We know that cancer patients live a lot longer when they’re in a support group. Rape victims heal much faster when they are in a support group. Support groups allow you to be seen in a way that one-on-one therapy cannot because there is validation of common experience.
Group therapy knows this but the majority of the population avoids revealing things in group settings because it feels too vulnerable. It takes intention and care to create community within the work environment, and it can be done skillfully with the help of a trained facilitator.
Creating a safe community is the solution
In the groups we facilitate, we have a method for restructuring how we relate to our own emotional state and our humanity. Here are three of the basic ways we lay claim to psychological safety and get back to living in community.
1. Establish a safe space for creating real community. In my work, we create a safe space and receive permission to have our full human experience as we share and hear other people. When one person leans in and reveals, it gives everyone else permission to have the experience their having — whether they share it or not.
2. Practice leaning in and sharing vulnerably in places where you feel a level of safety. Lead by example and encourage your organization to take one baby step forward. Share about your fears, your anxieties, what you’re dealing with and see what happens. Test the water. Generally we are surprised and well received.
3. Receive and ask questions. Make an inquiry and allow other people to reveal themselves to you. We usually don’t ask questions. Start simple by asking, “How are you doing really?” or “What keeps you up at night?” or “How can I support you?” Don’t assume you know the answers. Listen deeply and remain curious and open to how others respond. You may learn a lot!
When we create a safe space, a phenomenon begins to occur. Whenever someone speaks out with vulnerability, the floodgates open. It’s powerful to witness the phenomenon when an organizational leader shares their fears and insecurities and, in turn, almost every other member of the group shares their own. It isn’t a pity party or a bitch session. The honest outpouring serves to release the tension that comes with withholding your truth. It’s a physical and emotional relief – like coming up for air after you’ve been underwater for a little too long. And as a society, we’ve been underwater for too long. We need fresh air.
