Should we focus on ‘mental health’ in the workplace?
Workers don’t need performative shows of support. Listen to their problems, home in on specific challenges they’re facing, and prioritize genuine connectivity and camaraderie among your team.
Since the COVID-19 virus appeared, the focus on the mental health of employees has increased significantly. And rightfully so.
As a result of the pandemic, major social changes occurred in 2020: “stay-at-home” orders, tens of millions of workers shifted to working from home, children were educated remotely, we were required to maintain social distance from one another (and cover our faces with masks). Family and community relationships were hindered. The practical consequences? Isolation. Dramatic changes in daily life routines. Uncertainty.
These tectonic shifts in our lives shook our daily lives to the foundations and created an enormous amount of stress for us – individually, as families, for employees and economically.
When demands in our lives increase, they test our capabilities to cope with and manage these pressures. And the longer the demands continue, the more they tax our resources to deal with them.
Long-term stress begins to wear us down and we start to demonstrate symptoms from the “wear-and-tear” over time. These symptoms can be:
Increases in these symptoms in individuals and family members have been documented over the past 15 months.
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