Wellness Check.
This article is part of Finding the Words, a newsletter that delivers practical insights on the day’s issues.
After the chef and storyteller Anthony Bourdain died in 2018, his mother Gladys Bourdain said in an interview with TIME Magazine that he was “absolutely the last person in the world” she would have ever dreamed would do something like this.
That something like this was suicide. But, as has become much clearer in these years since his death, Bourdain was deeply struggling with his own mental health, just as he was racking up accolades, traveling the world, making millions, doing the work he loved. Just as he seemed to have it all.
As a parent, his mother’s remarks weigh heavy with me. How do you know if your loved one is in pain if they are not showing outward signs of it? How do you know if anyone close to you—a friend, a sibling, a coworker—is dealing with mental health challenges? And are there ways to see or spot the signs that someone is struggling, perhaps for longer than we may have realized?
As an employer, these questions weigh equally heavy. What role do I have as a responsible employer to consider the effects of the workplace on our team’s mental health? And what can we do to be more proactive about creating spaces that support the mental well-being of all team members, in a primarily remote work environment?
For many of us, a large portion of our days is spent at work. The average person will spend 90,000 hours at work over a lifetime—a conservative estimate for many overworked Americans—so it’s safe to say that our jobs can have a huge impact on our quality of life.
If you think mental health isn't an issue where you live, learn, work, or serve, think again. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, more than 1 in 5 U.S. adults — nearly 60 million people — live with a mental illness. And the workplace is deeply connected to that reality. According to Mental Health America's most recent workplace research, three in four employees say work stress is affecting their sleep, and nearly two in three say it's affecting their relationships with family and friends. Meanwhile, 71% of employees find it difficult to concentrate at work — up from 46% in 2018.
My dear friend Schroeder Stribling, who recently stepped down from her role as CEO of Mental Health America shared this wisdom in a former Mind the Workplace report:
“While in the past many companies and employees may have thought of mental health conditions as something that developed outside the workplace... the COVID-19 pandemic made it overtly clear that our workplaces directly affect our health in every way – from the risk of spreading infection to the potential for anxiety or depression. The experiences we have each day at work – our relationships with co-workers and managers, our access to quality and confidential support as needed, and the values and policies that guide our efforts, have a direct effect – positive or negative – on our overall sense of wellbeing.”
What I’ve learned through Mental Health America, and through the process of becoming a Platinum Bell Seal Certified workplace, is that there is so much that the workplace can do to contribute to the mental health and well-being of its workforce.
So much, in fact, is right at our fingertips, free and publicly available: from mental health awareness tools to conversation guides, wellness surveys, and tests that can help you gauge the mental well-being of your own community and then support your community accordingly.
In honor of this Mental Health Awareness Month, I invite you to join Mission Partners in taking one or more of these actions before the end of the month, for your own well-being and the well-being of the people and communities you love. We all have a part in contributing to mental well-being, and in further normalizing the idea that mental health is health.
If you’re an employer, consider outlining a mental health strategy for your workplace, beyond basic benefits and compliance. The Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN) provides a toolkit to help employers create an initial framework for a mental health strategy built around the “4 A’s”: Awareness, Accommodations, Assistance, and Access.
Read More Good Days: the 2026 Mental Health Action Guide from Mental Health America, which offers online activities, resources, tools and guidance, including concrete steps employers can take to better support their employees’ mental health.
Explore, share, and take the Mental Health America free screening test. Online screening is one of the quickest and easiest ways to determine whether you are experiencing symptoms of a mental health condition. The test is free, confidential and will direct you to resources that can support your own wellbeing.
And, check out this Tips for Talking resource, which includes a very useful frame for writing a letter about how you’re feeling as a way to start a conversation about your mental health when you’re just not sure how.
Mental health conditions, such as depression amd anxiety, are real, common and treatable. Recovery is possible, and support is closer than you think.
If you’re in crisis or need immediate support, help is available now.
Call or text 988 or chat via 988lifeline.org for free, confidential support 24/7.
This post is part of the Finding The Words column, a series published every Wednesday that delivers a dose of communication insights direct to your inbox. If you like what you read, we hope you’ll subscribe to ensure you receive this each week.
