Yesterday, on World Mental Health Day, the BBC released a video of HRH Prince of Wales, Prince William, struggling to fight back tears as he chatted with a woman in her kitchen in Cardiff. The woman, Rhian Mannings, was talking about the fact that her husband committed suicide five days after the death of their one-year-old son. Hearing such stories would make most of us wonder why we are upset with problems in our daily life, which, frankly, are trivial in comparison.
Yet, here in the UK, mental health issues are significant. Indeed, we are in third position in the league table of mental health issues, after Australia and the USA. Together with Canada, these nations have an average of 40% of people reporting problems with their mental health. Right now, four in ten of the people you work with are suffering. You may be one of them, of course.
Your troubles may not be as challenging as coping with the suicide of a partner, combined with the death of a child. However, every mental health issue is real to the sufferer, regardless of what the rest of us might think. In many workplaces, though, dealing with mental health is often to provide workers with a link to the “Employee Assistance Programme”, with managers believing they’ve addressed the issue by doing that.
Indeed, I was checking some social media posts the other day about student experiences in the recent “Freshers’ Weeks”. One struck me as sad. A student was interested in learning about the university’s well-being support services. What he got was the phone number of a national agency and a PDF on “looking after yourself”. The university had “ticked the box” in providing support. In reality, the student’s reaction revealed everything. He said it would have been better if the university had done nothing, because what they were doing was utterly inadequate. Oh, and in case you are wondering, the student is not attending the university where I work.
Mental health at work is often “sidelined”. We find it embarrassing. Unlike sympathising with the colleague who has broken a leg, we find it much more challenging to talk to someone about their depression. Yet, one in every 20 of your colleagues could have depression. You would soon notice if 5% of your workmates had broken legs.
New findings, though, suggest that this situation cannot continue. Quite apart from not helping those with mental illness, businesses could lose out if they are not more vocal about mental health. Six out of ten people believe that companies should take a public stand on mental health. More people want companies to prioritise discussing mental health over focusing on climate change. It’s twice as important as immigration.
Plus, the same research has shown that the views are dramatically different between generations. Baby Boomers, for instance, appear to want things kept quiet, with less than one in three wanting companies to speak out. However, for Millennials and Gen Z individuals, the situation is dramatically different, with more than half of them wanting firms to be more vocal about issues.
For many organisations, there’s often a fear that speaking out on social issues could alienate stakeholders or damage reputation. The instinct is to keep quiet and believe that “silence is golden”. Yet, as Matthew Kohut argues in his book Speak Out, silence can be far more damaging in the long run. By avoiding difficult topics, companies risk appearing disconnected, even complicit. Kohut makes a clear case that when leaders speak with authenticity and empathy, they not only build trust but also strengthen the social fabric of their organisations. That’s never been more vital when it comes to mental health.Speaking out about mental health in the workplace can have practical benefits beyond simply meeting the expectations of younger generations. When companies talk openly about mental health, it improves productivity, reduces staff turnover, and builds trust. It reminds employees that they are seen as people, not just performance statistics. But for that to happen, all of us — leaders, colleagues, and organisations — need to get more comfortable with difficult conversations. Silence helps no one. Rhian from Cardiff found the courage to share her story with the future king. If she can speak so openly about unimaginable loss, surely we can find the strength to talk about the everyday struggles that so many of us face at work.
