Mind me asking? The breakdown I haven't talked about

2015 was a peak year: my company was growing at a high pace, I was working on my PhD and was juggling work and travel with raising two amazing children that needed my attention. I was constantly time stretched, as I wanted to be a great mother, a great manager and a great student. For the last 2 years I had been sleeping 3 hours per night, happy that I was able to juggle everything.   

Until one day, when things took an abrupt turn. I have been having burnout symptoms for quite a while, but being a doctor, I was confident I could spot any serious issues, so I ignored those nagging symptoms and carried on. Until that day, when I experienced the first panic attack in my life. That took me by surprise, as I didn’t know what was going on and did not believe that that could happen to me.

That was the start of a breakdown that took me one year to recover from. I was feeling helpless and anxious as my life has changed completely and I didn’t know how to cope with the challenges around me. The team needed me, we had projects coming in and deadlines to meet and I was falling apart. The fear of panic attacks was paralyzing me – I was afraid to drive, go to meetings, or meet new people. Luckily I had help, I reached out to a good friend and colleague from the Medical University that is a psychiatrist. That was the best decision and I started a long recovery process, where my brain had to relearn that prior behaviors were safe to engage in.

This experience made me realize how important it is to have access to help, when struggling with mental health issues. Knowing that people are reluctant to open up to this topic in the workplace, I developed a habit to open the conversation whenever I notice one of my colleagues does not feel okay. 

I strongly believe it’s our responsibility as leaders to make the first step towards normalizing mental health conversations in and out of our offices. 

Now I’d like to ask you to do the same. Share your experiences with your team and your network. You can use the #mindmeasking? hashtag so that other people can learn from your experience as well.

#mindmeasking? #mentalhealth #workplacewellbeing #leadership #mentalhealthawareness