Mental Health And Corporate India

Corporate India is expanding like wildfire with each passing day. While the expansion creates employment opportunities for millions of people, allowing them to fulfill their hopes and dreams, a serious problem that is coming to the fore is the rapid increase in the number of people suffering from mental health conditions like depression and anxiety. 

High stress levels emanate from the pressures of job, money and family linked issues and one’s inability to effectively deal with this stress tends to make people vulnerable. Various studies have shown that the number of mental health illnesses have risen, especially amongst the millennial professionals. 

Cases of suicide, generalized anxiety disorder, panic attacks, and addiction disorders have gone up shockingly. A lack of work-life balance, family and social pressure, sedentary lifestyle, financial challenges and disharmonious relationships, all put together create a deadly cocktail of poor mental and physical health conditions. 

While everyone talks of managing stress at work, the unfortunate reality is that most of them do not know what to do about it? Each person is as clueless as the person sitting next to him and perhaps feels the same need, if not more, to get help. 

Many times it is seen that managers and bosses would be too insensitive and apathetic to psychological issues being reported by their subordinates. Sometimes it is the fear of being perceived as weak, incompetent or incapable that prevents workers from sharing / talking about their problems in the workplace. 

Companies lack proper mental health facilities that would encourage employees to seek help. All this combined together creates an environment where people find themselves alone and helpless in finding a way out of this hell hole. 

Problems related to psychiatry / psychological health are still looked down upon. Companies tend to view those suffering from a psychological disorder as ‘mentally unfit or not strong enough’ to deal with the corporate pressure. 

This is a huge reason why the sufferers continue to keep their problems under wraps and endure it silently till things take a serious downturn, culminating in physical and emotional breakdown.

However, the good news is that in this bleak scenario, there are some organizations that are trying to change their general attitude towards mental health and wellness. Efforts are being taken to change policies and create an environment that is pro mental health. Several organizations have come up with wellness programs that specifically focus on emotional and psychological problems. 

Employees can reach out to mental health practitioners like counselors and clinical psychologists in confidence to seek therapy for their problems. Training sessions are organized for managers and HR teams on how to handle mental health problems in an empathetic manner. 

Workshops/talk sessions on stress management, meditation, and relaxation, how to maintain a work-life balance, emotional intelligence etc. are also organized as a way to acknowledge mental health illnesses and the importance to learning ways to tackle the problems stemming from it. Some companies even have an in-house or an on-call counselor for their employees. 

Regular sessions focusing on emotional hygiene and psychological care can help in reinforcing the need for improved mental health practices in the corporate space. Solution focused help opportunities will encourage people to come forward and seek help before it gets too late. 

It is seen that people benefit immensely when they not only know that help is available but also that it is effective. Corporate India must realize that employees’ intellectual wealth is linked to their physical and mental health. Therefore, it is important to view health and wellness in a holistic manner!