What The Royal Family's Drama Taught Us About Mental Health In The Workplace
Trigger warning: Suicide, depression and mental health disorders
It seems as though anyone with access to the internet tuned in to the Meghan-and-Harry bombshell interview with Oprah a few weeks back.
For some of us, the long-standing fascination with the British Royal Family has turned into an obsession, particularly enhanced by intense, romanticized and scrutinizing media coverage.
The interview details, in particular, Meghan’s dark struggle with depression and suicidal thoughts following the onslaught of disparaging, racist and often untrue depictions of Meghan, and by association, Harry, across a variety of media outlets.
Whether you’re a fan of Meghan and Harry, or you’re trending on Team Queen, or if you could care less about any of it…the interview brought to light a topic that is incredibly divisive and important in our society today – the stigma associated with mental health disorders.
Highlighted throughout the 2-hour interview, Meghan’s cry for help from the Royal Family was ignored largely due to the stigma a story about mental health would hold against the family, should it be leaked to the world.
Well, that really backfired, didn’t it?
Within the context of mental health, we learned a few things:
1) A high profile celebrity showing vulnerability regarding their mental health struggles brings awareness to the topic.
2) Even a high profile celebrity (the highest profile, some might say), shedding light on their mental health struggles, inflames the stigma.
How can these two things be true simultaneously, and in 2021 of all years?
The world has gone through unimaginable collective turmoil and tragedy throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Everyone we know has suffered in some way as a result, and yet people will still call Meghan a liar or an “attention seeker” for sharing her story about mental health.
In tandem, Prince Harry has had long-standing involvement in mental health initiatives, including the Heads Together campaign, his work with the Invictus Games, and most recently, his newly announced role at BetterUp, as the Chief Impact Officer.
BetterUp is a growing coaching and mental health firm, valued at $1.7 billion, based in Silicon Valley.
That valuation alone should be a significant indication of importance of this work for now and for the future.
It’s clear from Harry’s work that his passion lies in erasing the stigma around mental health disorders and using his platform to elevate the care we take regarding mental health in our personal and professional lives.
Given that we spend around 30% of our lives working, it’s no wonder that Harry has decided to focus on mental health initiatives that can be implemented in the workplace.
What we experience at work, and how we feel at work, trickles into all facets of our lives.
In fact, studies have shown that 20% of Canadians will experience a mental health problem each year, and 20% of American adults has reported having a mental illness.
Additionally, $51 billion dollars are lost annually from the Canadian economy due to fall out from mental illness and in 2014 alone, $186 billion was spent on mental health care services in the US.*
Now tack on a global pandemic, and we’re really in the thick of it.
This problem costs us all money, sure, but it costs us more than that.
How employers respond to mental health issues in the workplace drives psychological safety within teams, known to drive employee happiness and organizational performance.
Supporting employees with their mental health contributes directly to bottom line revenues.
From research done at Cornell University and Google, organizations that have teams who experience high levels of psychological safety were found to experience many positive benefits including:
Higher team performance against targets and KPIs
Increase market share due to positive community reputation
Higher employee retention and recruitment rates
Increased engagement and job satisfaction and stronger group communication
There are countless ways to drive feelings of psychological safety and support mental health in the workplace that organizations of all sizes can participate in, which is particularly important as the pandemic continues to rage on and people are feeling heightened isolation.
At TIEJA Inc., a simple but critical implementation was the use of a corporate, shared Headspace account that encourages employees to take time to meditate and exercise mindfulness, a practice scientifically proven to reduce stress and anxiety.
Not only does the service alone support the mental well being of employees, it also signals to staff that leadership takes mental health seriously and enables space for safe and honest discussion, which is just as impactful as the service itself.
Additionally, offering a comprehensive Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for free counselling for employees and offering paid sick leave are all critical infrastructures to put in place as a starting point.
These initiatives don’t cost the business much, but they pay off with huge rewards.
*Source: Centers for Disease control and Prevention (CDC) and Canadian Mental Health Association (Ontario)
This post was written by Jennifer Babic, HR Consultant.
Jennifer Babic supports people and culture needs at TIEJA Inc., by providing expert advice, solutions, ideas and guidance to support growing businesses.
She helps to facilitate world-class employment experiences through proactive, thoughtful HR guidance that equally supports the employee and the business.
Jennifer spearheads hiring and training processes, and ensures business goals and talent are aligned.