Mental health was down in the pandemic, but innovation and empathy pave the way for a revival
There’s no denying that the COVID pandemic was, collectively, the biggest challenge our society has faced in living memory. We went from the mindset of being practically untouchable to seeing loved ones die, having our lives turned upside down, watching the fabric of society coming undone before us. But we’re still here – and though our mental health may have been knocked, it’s slowly beginning to rebuild.
“We’ve seen a huge decline in mental health during COVID,” Christina Fuda, Mental Health First Aid Coordinator at Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences told HRD. “However, I’m hoping that as we get out of the pandemic people's mental health will start to improve.”
Fudu expects that history will repeat itself which, in this case, is actually a good thing. After the Spanish flu finally subsided, we enjoyed the roaring 20s.
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“People really embraced socialization and fun – seen as though it had been lacking it for so long,” added Fuda. “I’d love this to be the case again, 100 years on. I was actually training in-person recently for the first time in almost two years, and everybody seemed so happy – even beyond what remember before. Being able to talk to people face-to-face and interact on a personal level is essential to rebuilding mental health. I think by 2023, we’re going to see a big improvement in people's overall mental health, especially if companies adopt a hybrid model.”
It's all about shifting out mindsets from survival mode to reactive mode. Yes, the pandemic was devastating, but it also led to seismic change on both and individual and organizational levels. Ways of working that we’re deemed ‘fantastical’ just three years ago are now common company practices. CEOs are invested in remote working, HR leaders see the benefits of four-day weeks, VPs of sales are committing to the right to disconnect. If we choose to keep these pandemic processes moving forward, and continue to grow and evolve with them, our mental health will not only improve, it’ll soar.
Speaking to HRD, Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post and Thrive Global, she revealed the overarching importance of investing in employee mental health not only through the pandemic but for the whole of the employee lifecycle.
“If there's anything positive to come out of COVID-19, it’s that it’s brought a magnifying glass to the mental health crisis and the need for a reset,” she told HRD. “As such, taking care of your employees is now essential for the business. Essential for leaders. There’s a new urgency to the work HR leaders are doing, because unless firms make a concerted effort to inspire and uplift their struggling staff, we're going to have a mental health crisis on our hands.”
Mental health mistakes
As a leader it’s not all about what you do, it’s about what you don’t do. If you suspect an employee is really struggling with their psychological health, don’t just wait for them to come to you – take charge and start a conversation.
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For Fuda, she believes the biggest mistakes leaders make when it comes to speaking about mental health with staff is neglecting the individual and presenting with personal bias.
“It's a matter of knowing the person as a whole, knowing their patterns, recognizing that you don't keep home stuff at home and work stuff at work - that we're an entire unit,” she told HRD. “If things are hard at home, then that inevitably spills into work – which is completely fine. What it boils down to is that it’s unfair to have this constant expectation 100% from people. It’s also bad form to compare all employees the same - not everybody's stress level is the same.
“As individuals, we have to recognize we each have different strengths, different weaknesses, and having different understanding of each person – honing that is going to be the best way to help everyone.”