“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”
In 1859, Charles Dickens wrote those immortal words which echo through the centuries, they retain their relevance with every cycle of history, and they are words that remind me that for every step forward we take we seem to take, at least, another one back.
We are wise enough to know that mental health is out of control across the world, but remain too foolish to take the steps necessary to begin helping ourselves and each other.
It is the spring of hope as increasingly organisations such as Cigna, or Bupa, or Deloitte, or the Global Business Collaboration for Better Workplace Mental Health, or indeed the PRCA – set to publish new research on October 10 – highlight the issue in a way that has not been done before.
But for at least one in four of us globally, or one in three in the UAE according to recent research by University of Sharjah, Zayed University and the United Arab Emirates University, it remains the winter of despair for those impacted by mental health, with not nearly enough being done by workplaces to tackle mental health issues.
The best of times, we’ve never had so much research that can help us, there has never been a stronger business case for investment in this space. The worst of times, not only do employers fall short, toxic leaderships and workplaces still abound.
However, as the immortal Sam Cooke sang, ‘a change is gonna come’.
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68 percent of the UAE population said they wanted to get some kind of mental health support from their employers, according to a report from Cigna in 2020.
Consider Cigna’s research that showed 88 percent of UAE employees are stressed out, one of the highest rates in the world, and likewise that 50 percent want to quit their jobs. Where do we go with that? Because it cannot be sustained, we’re reaching a tipping point; if it goes north much more and hits 100 percent what then? Companies will be forced by the market to change because those that don’t will simply no longer be able attract talent. No staff, no output, no profit, no bonus for the board, no pat on the back for the CEO, that doesn’t seem like a complicated equation.
Another facet of Cigna’s research – which I’m sure will be borne out by PRCA’s data, is that it is the younger generation, the Millennials and the Gen Zs, who are leading this desire to walk out on toxic environments. That means ‘the Great Resignation’ isn’t a flash in the pan, it is a generational shift.
Business stands at a crossroads. It cannot continue to treat its teams like batteries, using them up and throwing them away. There will be leaders who will treat these words, and this warning, with the incredulity that Dickens wrote of. For the rest of us let’s hold onto the belief that an epoch in mental health is coming – it is.
Staff Writer, editor in chief, Arabian Business.
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