Wellbeing Partners In The Media
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Lou Campbell, director of Wellbeing Partners, told People Management she has experienced the impact these employees have on themselves and others: “The stress-bragger ends up extremely burnt out, often in tears a lot, often struggling to sleep, just not coping. “Their colleagues dislike them, partially because of the bad energy that comes out of someone who’s constantly stressed, but also because they’re often used as the model for how much work you should be doing.”
Lou Campbell, director of Wellbeing Partners, told People Management: “For all workers, including leaders, to recover from burnout and to maintain wellbeing, by far the best solution is to increase resourcing so that all employees have a reasonable workload.” She warned that introducing a four-day week could lead workers to be on-call by phone or email during the non-working day, advising employers: “Create a workplace policy around core working hours, and give active permission to switch off in the evenings, weekends and on holidays.”
Lou Campbell, workplace mental health professional and director of Wellbeing Partners, told HR magazine that burnout was contributing to employee sickness. She said: “One of the main drivers of employees taking more sick leave than ever before is due to burnout – a phenomenon which has risen dramatically since mid 2021. “More than half of our corporate counselling sessions are now with employees who are experiencing moderate to severe burnout.” Research by Mental Health UK in January 2024 found that 20% of workers needed to take time off work due to stress in the last year. Campbell added that employers should offer more support for employees’ mental health. She continued: “With the NHS and EAPs unable to provide the level of support required, employers are having to step up and provide additional protection and support to their greatest asset, their employees.”
This year’s Mental Health Awareness week takes place between 13th and 19th May and the theme is Movement and Mental Health. This theme may surprise many who perhaps do not equate movement with supporting their mental wellbeing but in fact regular movement is fundamental for good mental health and is something we should all be thinking about. Humans evolved to move, and as well as the more commonly known physical-health benefits of exercise, regular movement offers many boons for our mental health. It can help lower feelings of anxiety and depression, reduce negative moods and thinking patterns whilst boosting confidence, self-esteem and improving sleep quality.
Lou Campbell, co-founder and clinical director of Wellbeing Partners, a work-place focused mental health service provider, noted that the pandemic had an impact on awareness of mental health: “For professional services firm, their people are their most valuable asset. As time goes on, there has been a greater awareness of mental health issues. The pandemic also increased the prevalence of work-related mental health issues including stress, sleep issues and absenteeism. “Law firms have realised this and began providing more attention to their mental health offerings.” This has meant that many law firms have gone beyond providing the basic employee assistance programmes that most organisations are signed up to.
The mental health challenges of people in the legal industry can be acute. Long hours, high-professional standards, internal and external competition and workplace cultures that encourage over-working all contribute to mental health challenges that need to be addressed and supported. Organisations need to be fluid in how they manage this. Recognising the challenges faced by traditional avenues of support and responding effectively to them will help your organisation and the people within it as we all navigate the personal and professional challenges of modern life.
Lou Campbell, workplace mental health clinician and programme director of Wellbeing Partners, said employees should be given a platform to anonymously provide honest feedback about any EAPs in place. Any that are not meeting standards should be “held [to] account”, she said. “Having a reliable and effective mental health and wellbeing service for staff is a really important priority. But EAPs are not the only option, and not always the best option, as the BBC investigation demonstrates,” Campbell continued.
Lou Campbell, programmes director for the workplace mental health provider Wellbeing Partners, told HR magazine: “As the EAP model, with its increasing focus on profits, falls well short of the promise to provide effect care and mental health support to employees, businesses are rightly looking at alternatives. “The desire for the highest quality mental health support for employees is reflected in the exponential growth of specialist workplace counselling services, where a small team of named mental health professionals support employees with all issues presented to them and in a timely manner.” She added: “As a qualified workplace mental health counsellor and trainer, I always advise HR professionals to use their EAP service themselves, to find out whether it meets their expectations, kind of like a 'mystery shopper'. “Now is a good time for HRs to also invite their employees to offer anonymous feedback on their experiences with EAPs.”
The higher instances of mental health issues faced by people with neurodivergence is stark reading – 50% of adults with ADHD and 47% of adults with autism will experience a co-occurring anxiety disorder whilst 70% of adults with ADHDand 40% of adults with autism will also have a co-diagnosis of depression. To support neurodivergence in the workplace, there needs to be a two-pronged approach. Firstly, organisations must remove the obstacles in the workplace that adversely impact comfort, engagement and performance for neurodivergent employees. Secondly, there needs to be support and advice to help individuals learn strategies to regulate and manage their own symptoms of anxiety and depression.
In my work as a mental health professional and neurodiversity specialist, I see the intersectionality of neurodivergence and mental health issues on a daily basis, and it is a topic that is frequently underestimated and misunderstood. While autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia and others are not mental health issues, they are significant risk factor for mental health issues, particularly burnout, anxiety disorders, depressive disorder and insomnia. Mental health issues in neurodivergent employees often begin in the workplace itself, as this is usually set up for neurotypical employees. Everything from the lighting, the sounds, office layout, management style, communication styles and even the interview process can detrimentally impact people with neurodivergence. In a nutshell, simply having to constantly adapt to the norms of a neurotypical workplace puts a massive mental load on neurodivergent staff that so frequently leads to health and wellbeing issues
