HIGH-PROFILE ATHLETES AND ENTERTAINERS HAVE INCREASINGLY been speaking out about their struggles with mental well-being in recent years. Very few business leaders have done the same. There’s a simple reason for that: There’s still a stigma associated with revealing such seeming vulnerability at work. ¶ But with burnout, anxiety, and depression among workers hitting record levels—according to a 2021 report from mental health consultancy Mind Share Partners, three-quarters of full-time U.S. workers reported experiencing at least one symptom of a mental health condition in the past year, up from 59% in 2019—we’re seeing signs of change. Companies are making mental health benefits more accessible and starting to have substantive discussions about how company culture affects employees’ sense of well-being. Lawmakers are wrestling with how to ensure that mental health and physical health are treated equally by employers and insurers. And business leaders are beginning to speak more openly about their own experiences.
To talk about these issues, Fast Company brought together CBS Sunday Morning anchor Jane Pauley, who has been open about having bipolar disorder; entrepreneurs Andy Dunn and Paul English, who have shared their own struggles with mental illness; and mental health and well-being advocates Alicia Keys and Amit Paley, CEO of the Trevor Project.
Two years of working from home—either in isolation or with toddlers or teenagers underfoot—has been very
