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“I have never felt so seen.”
This feedback — which I have received repeatedly since the publication of my book, The Anxious Achiever, last year — makes me feel grateful. It also makes me angry.
Every day, my inbox is filled with stories that would make your eyes burn. I recently conducted an informal poll on LinkedIn in which 87% of 1,228 respondents reported that a stressful coworker, client, boss, or work situation was the catalyst for negative physical symptoms such as migraines, nausea, hair loss, sleep loss, weight changes, autoimmune outbreaks, and panic attacks.
And it’s not just my community. Headspace’s 2024 Workplace State of Mind study found that work stress has negatively impacted physical health for 77% of employees and relationships outside of work for 71%. A March 2022 Gallup analysis found that fewer than one in four employees felt their organization cared about their well-being — nearly half the number who said the same at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
What happened? While benefits and conversations around mental health have changed, workplace cultures haven’t caught up. Workplace mental health expert Natasha Bowman also shared that while a high level of empathy and compassion emerged during the pandemic, she’s seeing a shift back to pre-pandemic habits, including rollbacks of DEI and well-being initiatives. People are not responding well. “Today, workers demand more than just a paycheck — they demand respect for their mental health needs. It’s not just about ticking off boxes, it’s about creating a culture where employees feel empowered to prioritize self-care without fear of repercussions,” said Bowman.
I couldn’t agree more. To address this critical moment for companies and employees, I wanted to share my state of workplace mental health — culled from what I’ve learned from wise colleagues and from hundreds of keynotes and conversations on workplace mental health since the launch of my book — as a path forward.