We may be breaking the stigma. But we still need to fix the system.
A shorter version of this post originally appeared in CampaignUS on May 12, 2021.
—-
Self-care. Mindfulness. Meditation. Self-compassion. Rest. Resilience. Stress management. Empathy. Yoga. Restorative practices. Flexible schedules.
These are the buzzwords of “Mental Health” in the creative world, and it’s about damn time that they’ve finally become part of our everyday vernacular. As far back as January 2020 (doesn’t that seem like a lifetime ago?), a Digiday article reported on the dramatic uptick in agencies offering “mental health and wellness benefits,” like paid subscriptions to Headspace, or chiropractic care during office hours. The ensuing pandemic, of course, accelerated the momentum, as our work lives and home lives blurred into one giant boundary-less existence, and agency leaders needed to figure out how to provide the same kind of resources outside of their physical office space.
Recognizing the need for, and investing in, a variety of mental health services has made a significant impact in breaking down the stigma surrounding stress, burnout, and overwhelm in our industry. As someone who’s personally and professionally invested in this issue space, it’s even been hard for me to keep track of all the articles, reports, conferences, panels, and discussions dedicated to the topic of mental health lately. But before we all start congratulating ourselves for a job well done, we need to stop and do a reality check.
We’re an industry that thrives on talk. We excel at highlighting the positives while quietly ignoring, or maybe more accurately, “reframing,” the negatives. Think about it—it’s literally how we make our money. So while it may be true that we’ve made progress in destigmatizing the conversation around mental health, have we really made that much progress in supporting or addressing the actual mental health of our colleagues and employees?
Through honest conversations with friends at other agencies (and in other creative industries, as well), my avid following of the brutally candid @agency_insider account on Instagram, my personal meditation and mindfulness practices--and yes, time with my own therapist--I’ve identified five key problems in the way that the advertising industry is approaching the issue of mental health. The good news is that they’re all 100% solvable. The bad news (depending on your perspective) is that it’s going to take a lot more than talk to make it happen.
___
Problem 1: Mental health resources are still being positioned by most agencies, and seen by most employees, as a “perk.”
You know a perk when you see one. Weekly happy hours! Yoga classes! Free beer Fridays (pre-COVID days, of course). These are the niceties that HR and/or management tosses out into the wild to help people feel more like they’re being taken care of...without actually investing a whole lot of time or effort in achieving any specific outcome. These kinds of perks are fun, for sure. And yes, they can help boost morale in the short-term. But when it comes down to it, they’re still considered “options” or “extras…” like pet insurance. Great if you take advantage of it! (But shh, it costs the company less if you don’t.) A 2020 study by several Australian mental health organizations asked advertising folks what they believed to be the most important for improving mental health in their workplaces. At the top of the list were factors like having empathetic leaders and clear objectives. Can you guess what was at the bottom of the list? The aforementioned “perks,” like, motivational posters, yoga, healthy food and mindfulness initiatives, were listed as least important.
When we approach mental health resources like bonuses or extras, it sends a signal to our teams that we see emotional wellness as trendy, transactional, and optional—and ultimately, also expendable.
How can we address the problem? Integrate mental health practices and resources into the core of your operations.
Rather than considering them as perks, think of any mental health tools, programs, stipends, etc. the same way you would think about other operational resources, like project management tools, leadership training, or timesheet entry systems: have checks and balances to ensure employees are not only aware of them, but continually encouraged to engage with them. There are super simple steps you can take, like creating a monthly internal newsletter that highlights upcoming programs or new platforms that have been added. You can take it further by putting mechanisms in place to not only push out resources, but also bring IN collaboration—for example, sending quarterly surveys to gauge participation and well-being, and then using that data to improve both the services you offer, and how you communicate about them. Or, forming employee committees that can take ownership of shaping the company’s mental health support systems, rather than having them be “handed down” by someone in HR. And if you really want to take the operational approach to heart, make sure your leadership isn’t just doing lip service to prioritizing their teams’ (and their own) mental health. Invest in training to help them become more empathetic and compassionate. Reward them for setting positive examples by being honest about their own challenges. Make sure they’re giving their teams TIME to actually take advantage of the resources that are being offered. And be candid with them when their behavior may be contributing to their teams’ stress, so that they’re able to address it before it becomes toxic.
QUOTE FROM RESPONDENT TO THE EVERYMIND (AUS) MENTAL HEALTH SURVEY, ON WHAT AGENCIES COULD DO TO BETTER SUPPORT THEIR TEAMS:
“Staff-up organisations so employees are less stressed and potentially have time to participate in the health and wellbeing programs companies ‘pretend’ to provide.”
___
Problem #2: Emotional “support” isn’t really supportive in isolation.
When an agency offers mental health resources without a supportive community in which to engage in them, it puts the responsibility entirely on the individual to seek them out, evaluate their options, and do the hard work on their own. As someone who has experienced (and is still currently navigating) mental health challenges, I know firsthand that feeling like you have to solve things by yourself only makes things worse. Connection is one of our most basic human needs. Just ask Maslow. Without it, we feel isolated, and can quickly start believing that the challenges we’re facing are not normal, or even that they’re “all my fault.” Just like achieving physical health takes a support system of doctors, nutritionists, health coaches, trainers, instructors, etc., so does mental health. We can’t expect our employees to thrive in a vacuum, no matter how many resources we put on the table.
How can we address the problem? Establish safe spaces for connection, empathy, and compassion.
In order to help employees feel less isolated, we need to create a culture where “mental health” is a two way dialogue, not a one-way dissertation. Our efforts can’t simply end with offering massages and subscriptions. When the world went into lockdown last spring, I experimented with holding “Empathy and Space” sessions for my team every week, where anyone in the agency who was feeling alone, and craving connection, could come to sit with their colleagues. They didn’t have to be suffering from something specific, and they didn't need say a word if they didn't want to--it was just a place to feel seen, to be acknowledged, to connect, and to know that others were struggling, too. Over time, our group ended up forming some really wonderful bonds with each other, and gradually got more comfortable being vulnerable with our feelings and our challenges, because we knew we were in a safe space where there was no judgment or “risk” associated with being truly ourselves. It’s why formalized group therapy is used in so many support and recovery programs: connection and belonging are integral to our health.
EXCERPT FROM BRENE BROWN’S BOOK “I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST ME, BUT IT ISN’T: MAKING THE JOURNEY FROM “WHAT WILL BE PEOPLE THINK?” TO “I AM ENOUGH.”
“Connection serves two purposes: the development of social support networks and the creation of power through interaction. Involvement with others in similar situations provides individuals with a means for acquiring and providing mutual aid, with the opportunity to learn new skills through role-modeling, with strategies for dealing with likely institutional reprisals, and with a potential power base for future action.”
- Quoted from work by researchers Lorraine Gutierrez and Edith Ann Lewis
___
Problem #3: Providing mental health resources as “checkbox” activity leads to a lack of corporate accountability.
You wouldn’t walk someone over to an airplane, hand them the keys, and tell them “It’s just like driving a car, you’ll figure it out!” before dashing off the runway. But that’s essentially what we’re doing when we provide employees with an array of mental health resources, but no guidance or coaching on how to best leverage them. We ALL received professional training when we started out in our careers, and our managers were (or at least, should have been) held accountable--and responsible--for making sure we learned what we needed to know, and that we were able to build our confidence and skill sets through practice and reinforcement. When companies neglect the “training” part of “soft-skills training,” as with emotional and mental health, it becomes all too easy for them to escape accountability for any issues that pop-up later, and put the blame on the individual instead. “Well, we gave them all of these tools, they just didn't use them, so it's their fault they’re so stressed, not ours.” It's that kind of mindset, and lack of accountability, that leads to toxic workplaces—and ultimately, employees who experience depression, anxiety, and burnout at much higher rates.
How can we address the problem? Make mental health training required—for employees AND management.
The same way that agency teams may have regular hard-skills “trainings on various platforms, technologies, design methodologies, etc., we need to make mental health training one of our required learning paths, as well. And note that I said REQUIRED, not OPTIONAL. Why? A) It signals that the company takes our well-being as individuals seriously enough to put the time investment, and capital investment, into supporting its employees through formal guidance. B) It allows managers and leadership to more easily spot when someone is struggling, because regularly planned training sessions allow more frequent opportunities for noticing, asking, and listening. C) As I mentioned earlier, it puts the responsibility on leadership to make sure they’re doing their part to provide support. And D) it takes the pressure off of the individual to be the one to initiate outreach, which can often feel scary and vulnerable.
___
Problem #4: Most agencies’ mental health efforts are only addressing the symptoms--not the root causes.
When members of your team are feeling overwhelmed or calling in sick for “personal reasons,” it can seem like a nice gesture to give them the day off, send them food, or point them toward an EAP for professional help. But how often does agency leadership stop to ask “Why are they so stressed all the time to begin with?” Our industry is notorious for long hours, ridiculous deadlines, unreasonable expectations for pitch work, and dysfunctional client relationships where we fail to establish responsible and respectful boundaries from the outset, leading us to say “yes” to requests that logical humans in any other field would laugh at. The result is that we’ve not only created a flawed culture, but also a fundamentally broken business model, that’s designed to achieve financial results at the expense of its employees’ well-being. I know there are some agencies that are actively working on solving this—put practices and safeguards in place that prevent the conditions that cause overwhelm and emotional distress in the first place. But by-and-large, the efforts of the few progressive agencies isn’t going to make a dent. Our industry’s problem is systemic. And we need to approach it that way, too.
“There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.”― Desmond Tutu
How can we address the problem? Redesign the system, from the inside out.
Systemic change is not easy. And we’re likely more aware of this fact right now than at any other time in our history, as it’s a critical part of how our society is beginning to think about addressing police brutality, racial injustice, and climate change, among others. Every pivotal social movement that’s happening right now recognizes that while individual actions do add up, they can’t create sweeping reform if these actions are still happening within a broken system. If agencies are really invested in supporting their employees' mental health and well being, they need to rethink the way they do business.
Some agencies have already started to say no to the traditional pitch process, which essentially, sets an unfair expectation with clients that we’re eager and excited to work long hours for free (not to mention the internal team abuse that often comes with it). It’s a great start, but we need to go further. When we structure contracts, for example, we can put in clauses that set realistic expectations and boundaries for how we work with clients—clearly noting that business hours are between 9-6, for example, and that communications should not be expected outside of that time. We can add parameters for turnaround times to proactively cut down on “last minute” fire-drills. We can provide our clients with a copy of company holidays so that they are crystal clear from the outset, that no, their team will not be working Monday because it’s Memorial Day weekend, and we consider our time-off sacred. We can create client management training that allows account leads to develop the skills and confidence to navigate difficult situations, and conversations, with the best interests of the client AND their own team in mind. We can set internal practices that emphasize the importance of personal time and freedom to think--for example, no email after 7pm policies, no Slack on weekends, meeting-free Fridays, heads-down work blocks, etc. Each of these steps by themselves may seem small, but if we collectively agree to implement them industry-wide, just imagine the seismic shift we could create.
___
This last problem is a big one. And I’ve left it for last on purpose, as it may be sensitive to some readers. But it’s something that needs to be said, heard, considered, and addressed.
Problem #5: Providing resources for mental health is NOT the same as providing support for mental illness.
Remember those buzzwords at the beginning of this article? Self-care. Self-care. Mindfulness. Meditation. Self-compassion. Rest. Resilience. Stress management. Empathy. Yoga. Restorative practices. Flexible schedules.
I would bet that at least one of these words comes up in regular everyday conversation at your agency, and that none of them make you especially uncomfortable.
But how about these? Depression. Anxiety. Eating Disorders. OCD. PMDD. Addiction. Abuse. Alcoholism. Postpartum Depression. Bipolar disorder. Schizophrenia. Do any of those make you squeamish? Can you remember the last time one of these came up in an agency town-hall meeting, or a colleague casually mentioned that they’re taking a new antidepressant the same way they’d talk about their 5-hour Ted Lasso marathon last weekend? Probably not.
While we may have made progress in breaking down stigmas around mental health, mental illness is still largely taboo in our industry, and honestly, in the workforce as a whole. When nearly 26% of adults over 18 suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in any given year, by only normalizing and providing proactive or preventative resources to support the positive side of mental health, we’re completely ignoring the needs of more than a quarter of our colleagues who are already in the thick of some really serious challenges. And that’s not just hearsay.
According to Mental Health America’s Mind the Workplace 2021 report, nearly 3 in 5 employees feel that their employer does not provide a safe environment for individuals who live with mental illness. We can’t be having half a conversation and expect to create with wholly-sustainable progress.
How can we address the problem: To be honest, I don’t know. But we need to figure it out FAST.
Maybe it starts by adding words like treatment, diagnosis, and therapy to our mental health and illness conversations, not just glossing them over with language about wellness, prevention, and management. Maybe it starts by questioning why we consider taking cholesterol medication to be normal, but taking anti-anxiety medication to be a sign of weakness. Or maybe it starts with something more this:
My name is Amy. I wrote this article. I have two kids and a successful career. I practice mindfulness and meditation, and study empathy and self-compassion. I have also been clinically diagnosed with anxiety and depression, and have been taking medication for the last two years. I am talking about it here so that you can feel comfortable talking about it, too. I am also advocating for change. Because I am not less-than. And I am not broken. Our system is. And we—the ones who live inside this paradoxically wonderful and dysfunctional industry bubble every day—are the only ones who can change it.
—-
Resources:
For more information and resources about addressing mental health AND mental illness, as well as resources for Mental Health Awareness month:
Resources and training:
NAMI - Why employers need to talk about mental illness in the workplace
National Council for Behavioral Health: Addressing Health Equity and Racial Justice
Mental Health organizations: