The Realities of Mental Health and Business

Mental health and business

As of late it would be churlish to point out that everyone is having a tough time. It’s obvious that due to the pressures of the last few years, there’s been a raft of problems for those in business. 2022 seems to have only exacerbated this.

From the stresses laid on by the cost of living crisis, the delayed onset of problems hanging over from COVID and the general economic downturn still looming large, is it any wonder that business leaders are feeling the pressure?

As a business leader, mental health should be at the forefront of operations. The Stevenson-Farmer Review (2017) stated that UK employers suffer a direct cost of £33 billion to £42 billion a year because of poor mental health at work.

One can only imagine just how much this has developed in the following five years given the circumstances we have faced. Those figures are noteworthy, but fail to show why that much direct cost is suffered. At first glance, it could be presumed that these are figures based on lost days, employees or business leaders missing time in the office for stress, burnout or other factors related to mental health.

However, it doesn’t show the cost to productivity, work quality, communications and general areas that may fall behind if someone is not able to perform to the best of their ability.

Burnout and stress

Certain sectors also seem to be at real risk when it comes to what is being termed ‘burnout’. The tech sector in particular is seeing this as a problem and because the demands and culture surrounding the industry are so intense, it is proving hard to address.

According to a recent poll, two in five in the tech industry say they consider themselves at high risk of burnout, which is especially concerning when there are shortages within that sector too.

Issues that might exacerbate the problem include what the industry refers to as ‘crunch’ which is when projects have immovable deadlines and every hour possible is worked to almost breaking point for teams. This creates intense competition and some larger video game producers have been accused of toxic work environments because of it.

Stress and insolvency

Nothing could possibly come close however, to the stress related to insolvency and risk of seeing your company fail. When you are a sole entrepreneur, it can seem like pressure is piling up, but it only affects you. When you start to count employees among your dependents, this means the pressure intensifies and can lead to real anxiety and sometimes depression.

Thankfully, there are schemes out there to help if you are suffering. Not only are there steps HMRC can take to ease your debt if it sits with them, but there are also ways to mitigate against extreme cases where mental health has taken a real toll.

A ‘breathing space’ scheme is in place for when a mental health crisis has taken place. For those who have had treatment or are undergoing treatment for something related to mental health, pauses on debt and a grace period once treatment has ended can make the burdens of business stress at least put on hold for a short time. You can read more about this here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/debt-respite-scheme-breathing-space-guidance/debt-respite-scheme-breathing-space-guidance-for-creditors