We must explore how to show up for those with mental health burdens while maintaining healthy boundaries.
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According to Harris Poll data commissioned by CVS Health, 42 percent of working mothers have been diagnosed with mental health issues, including anxiety and/or depression.
Compare those numbers to 28 percent of the general population, 25 percent of their coworkers without kids, and 35 percent of working fathers, and you’ll get an idea of the toll the dual pressures of motherhood and career are taking on women. Companies can’t ignore these issues. We need to support our female employees.
Many women struggling with mental health burdens manage to hide the symptoms, at least for a while. This invisibility can make the struggle feel profoundly isolating. We ask ourselves, Is this even real? Why can’t I just get over this? Without a space for open dialogue—a space where someone feels safe enough to say, This is what I need right now, even if it’s just your compassion or acceptance—the suffering remains hidden.
When this happens in the workplace, it ripples outward, affecting an individual’s engagement, productivity, and sense of belonging.
Early in my career, when I was dealing with anxiety and panic attacks, I felt unable to stay grounded in situations that occurred outside the safe place of my home, so the issues often showed up during job walks or meetings. I would struggle to stay present, my mind racing and fixating on the perceived confinement of a room. Will the door open again after this meeting?
Thoughts like these were relentless, leaving me overwhelmed and embarrassed.
My experience with my own mental health issues has influenced me to explore how I and other leaders can show up even when there are no visible signs of mental health burdens in our employees. We need to ask ourselves how we can meet people where they are, even in silence.
We must also explore how we can show up for those with mental health burdens while maintaining the healthy boundaries needed in a workplace.
We leaders can support our female employees through flexible work policies. We need paid parental leave and childcare support, access to mental health programs, and, just as importantly, a culture that truly values work-life balance.
I believe the answer lies in preparation and building a foundation firmly rooted in humanity. Vulnerable communication doesn’t happen by accident. It is cultivated. It begins with creating an organizational culture that is warm, welcoming, and empathetic, a culture where people feel safe enough to bring their whole selves to the table. A culture where, in moments of struggle, they can express their needs or simply ask for space to process and heal without the fear that such an admission will lead to criticism or, worse, a lingering bias against their future contributions.
I wish I had this when I started my career: an inclusive culture that values and provides for women employees and their burdens with flexibility and compassion. It’s also what I work every day to create within my organization.
As leaders, it is what we must strive for.
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