Apparently only junior staff suffer from mental illnesses
Tony Wiedermann
Partner at EY | Helping clients design and execute their transactions | Destigmatising depression
It has been over six months since I’ve been speaking publicly about how I manage my depression. In this time, I have felt humbled by the many people from all levels of the firm opening up to me about their own battles, as well as people telling me about loved ones that are grappling with mental illness. I have also have been overwhelmed by the people who have heard things in my story that they can relate to and have sought help.
The one glaring observation though, is that apparently none of my fellow Partners battle with mental illness. Whilst junior staff are prepared to be vulnerable and share their story with me (and even publicly), not one fellow Partner has yet done so since I’ve shared my story. They only share stories about people they know.
We all know Partners are not immune to mental illnesses. First, it doesn’t discriminate, and second, many informed people (i.e. psychologists / psychiatrists) state that the mental illness rate amongst Partners is much higher than the 1:4 population average.
This is ok. It took me many years - and an injury based stroke – to open up. Everyone deals with mental illnesses differently.
The thing is though, another interesting observation I’ve noted, is that junior staff feel that to create an environment where people feel comfortable in sharing their story and seeking help, they need to see more role models from the top. This is not Partners speaking of the importance of seeking help, rather Partners speaking of how they are treating and managing it.
As Partners, we are not immune. We also have a critical role in creating an environment where people not only feel compelled to speak about it in their teams but to feel comfortable in seeking treatment during work hours.
Personally, there has been no downside through me sharing my story. I also don’t feel judged when I see my psychiatrist each week. In fact, it’s been somewhat cathartic.
I’m looking forward to my first follower. Our workforce and culture will thank us for it.
Director P.I.P.S. Pty. Ltd. Psychologist, FAICD, SHL Profiler.
6 年Be very proud Tony of all your articles and your wisdom! I hope we meet one day
Project Management | Contract Management | Contract Administration | Artificial intelligence | Consulting | Leadership | Service Delivery
7 年Excellent points!
Customer Success Director | MBA, PhD, Eng, PMP | Deloitte & PwC
7 年Very well said ! Thanks for bringing that up! We must stop saying “every body is going through tough times” and support each other.
Lecturer in Policing Organisation and Practice, Faculty of Business and Law, Open University Business School
7 年Excellent point. Here is a quote from one of the participants from my research. ‘on the mental health day the unit did we got one of the superintendents and his partner to come in and he’s always been someone who, I’ve always thought was quite macho, he’s always been really good with me but it turned out that his wife suffered from a really severe mental health problem and they both came and spoke about it and she’s very high up in management in Force and to see that people at that level can suffer and what he had going on in his own life at home with her and his other problems and how he had to manage that at work, I found inputs like that quite impactive because it shows he can still do that job and I’ve never seen him as having any problems, and now I see that he’s treated me so well, he does have some understanding. I don’t know, I just think it’s keeping hammering it home to people.’ Detective in UK Force
Suicide Prevention Programme Manager
7 年This applies to Law Enforcement and other Public Sector Organisations too. I started and co-ordinate a Workplace Mental Health Peer Support Network that consists of colleagues of different ranks and roles. I would certainly welcome more Senior officers. Senior leaders can show that experiencing mental ill health doesn't have to mean the end of a career or promotion prospects and I strongly believe they develop a range of additional skills that can benefit the organisation and how we respond in communities.