How to Improve the Mental Health Crisis: Defining Actions and Navigating Paradoxes

The world is increasingly chaotic with a host of unpredictable disruptions in technology (AI), political actions, social trends, environmental sustainability, and economic uncertainty. With this continuing chaos, we aren’t surprised that mental health has become a primary concern for society, organizations, leadership, and individuals along many dimensions (figure 1). These mental health concerns impact how people and organizations operate (see figure 2). To make progress on this pervasive mental health endemic, I suggest defining improvement actions and navigating certain paradoxes. These suggestions apply to business and HR leaders as well as individuals struggling with mental health concerns.

Figure 2: Evidence and Impact of Mental Health on Work

• Depression and anxiety disorders cost the global economy $1 trillion every year in lost productivity.
• Poor well-being lowers productivity and increases turnover, absenteeism, and medical costs, as well as costing organizations 15–20 percent of total payroll.
• The cost of mental illness and related consequences is projected to rise to $6 trillion globally by 2030 (up from $2.5 trillion in 2010).
• Loneliness affects 58 percent of the U.S. population. Adults are two to five times more likely to miss work, costing $154 billion annually.
• Stress affects employees at all levels. Ninety-eight percent of leaders and senior managers find their #jobs stressful in some way; 38 percent of frontline employees say they are stressed at #work at least half of the time; and 41 percent feel emotionally drained from their work.
• Gallup reports a ten-year low in employee engagement, especially due to unmet expectations and inadequate caring and development.

Defining Actions

To respond to mental health challenges, I recently proposed seven questions and actions to overcome feeling overwhelmed (figure 3). I share them again because I believe that leaders who ask and deal with these seven questions care for themselves and then are more able to care for others. Self-care preceding other care becomes even more important as HR professionals face increasing distress as caregivers for others.

The seven dimensions and diagnostics above provide a mental health action plan. The lowest-scored items of the seven actions should be the highest priorities to focus on. Next, a mental health mindset enables further progress by understanding how to embrace and navigate paradoxes that lead to resilience, deeper thinking, innovation, growth, and ultimately better mental health.

Navigating Paradoxes

Our research (and others) has shown that the ability to navigate paradox predicts high personal performance. I suggest learning to navigate the following six paradoxes will improve mental health in order to sustain high performance. Each paradox has two apparent contradictions. Mental health improvement comes by recognizing your predisposition, learning about the other side, seeking transcendent options or values, then developing the skill of doing both. 

1.     Accept reality and increase ambition.

Accepting reality without ambition for the future solidifies status quo and limits progress. Ambitions beyond reality are false hopes that create a vicious cycle of discouragement. Mental health improves when we are relaxed about who we are and are relentless about pursuing who we can become.

2.    Ensure continuity and relish change.

Principles and core values are timeless and deserve continuity; practices and actions are timely and should change. Leadership, HR competencies, and personal values all have timeless principles, but they also have timely and present actions for each. When we make the past a prologue to a different future, mental health improves. For example, I have a timeless value of learning to impact others: today that is done through virtual podcasts and webinars more than legacy in-person meetings.

3.    Practice mercy and justice.

Mercy comes in accepting others by appreciating their differences and circumstances and by forgiving and moving on; justice is holding people accountable for their actions. Our mental health improves when we show compassion and care for others (and self) for who they are and at the same hold others (and self) accountable for their actions when they fall short of expectations.

 4.    Listen to others and respond with personal voice.

Responding only to our personal voice and views limits our opportunities and blinds us to the insights of others. Reacting only to the voices and needs of others creates instability and inauthenticity in ourselves. We should learn from others by asking what they think, then integrate their thoughts into our assumptions and views. In today’s technology enhanced world, don’t let AI (rtificial ntelligence) limit AI (uthentic ntimacy). Mental health improves when we engage with others and learn, invest in enduring relationships that bring happiness, then claim a personal point of view.

5.    Believe and challenge.

The best long-term partnerships come flrom shared beliefs, values, goals, and actions coupled with respecting differences, holding candid dialogue, and exploring options. Core beliefs and values give certainty; challenging assumptions gives flexibility and growth. Mental health comes by claiming a set of beliefs and by continually testing and validating them.

6.    Avoid and savor distractions.

Distractions can be a resource for renewal or a demand that reduces energy. When distractions become obsessions, they can become a demand not a resource. Separate signal that is a positive distraction from noise that dissipates focus. For example, if we get 100 positive reactions to our work and one naysayer, we shouldn’t let a single naysayer distract us from the positive agenda. Find positive distractions (hobbies, exercise, affirming relationships, service opportunities, etc.) that make time away from work time well spent. Mental health increases when naysayers and advocates are put in context.

Conclusion and Implication

Mental health improvement requires both a set of actions and a state of mind, and has become a societal, organizational, leadership, and personal trend. Defining actions and navigating paradoxes matters for any employee but perhaps even more so for HR professionals who are often the mental health caregivers for others. All should invest in mental health by doing a check up on the menu of actions that enable us to overcome being overwhelmed (use figure 3 to guide you) and improve and sustain mental health by recognizing and navigating paradoxes to create a stable state of mind (use figure 4 to diagnose your mindset).

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Dave Ulrich is the Rensis Likert Professor at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, and a partner at The RBL Group, a consulting firm focused on helping organizations and leaders deliver value.