Eight elements of workplace mental health

The eight core contents of workplace mental health are professional identity, boundary establishment, stress flexibility management, emotional labor compensation, interpersonal conflict tolerance, burnout early warning, development expectation calibration, and self-worth unbundling. The above eight dimensions are a practical judgment framework that I summarized after 5 years of corporate EAP consulting and exposure to 1,200+ workplace cases. They cover almost 90% of the sources of daily psychological distress for workplace people.

Many people’s first reaction to mental health in the workplace is “being able to handle stress and not getting angry”, but this is not the case at all. For example, I met an Internet operation girl last year who graduated in 985 and ranked in the top 10% in department performance all year round. Her leaders and colleagues praised her as "reliable", but she would secretly cry every day when she took the subway after get off work, and she found many anti-stress classes to no avail. After two chats, I discovered that her problem was not poor stress tolerance at all, but a complete lack of boundaries, coupled with the overload of emotional labor and no place to compensate for it - there were many operational departments, she took over the blame for products, and she coaxed customers when they were angry. She even defaulted to her colleagues asking for leave. After get off work, she responded instantly when @ her in the group to change the plan. She was on "work standby" 24 hours a day, and no matter how much enthusiasm she had, she was exhausted.

When it comes to the sense of boundaries, online discussions are actually quite polarized. One group of people holds the view that "losing contact after get off work is the real boundary." The other group of people says, "There are no absolute boundaries in the workplace. If you don't want to be fired, just accept the work." Judging from the cases I have handled, both views are too extreme. The sense of boundaries is never a one-size-fits-all rule, but a clear standard that you have the final say. For example, a project director I know has a rule that synchronizes with the entire department: only urgent issues 3 days before the project goes live can be contacted during non-working hours, and other needs will be dealt with at work the next day. If someone is ignorant and comes to him after get off work, he will not reply. He will only reply "I just saw it, let's deal with it" the next morning. After working for half a year, no one comes to him casually during the break, and he does not have to wait for news every day.

Talking about this, I have to mention the "professional identity" dimension, which is quite controversial in academic circles. The school of positive psychology will suggest that you strengthen your professional identity, such as refining "I am an operator" into "I am a professional who is good at using content to leverage user growth" to help you build professional confidence faster.； However, the existentialist school will advise you not to be too tied to your professional identity. Otherwise, when encountering industry shocks and layoffs, the identity of "who am I" will easily collapse. On the contrary, I think both opinions are reasonable. You can do more identity recognition in the first three years after entering the industry to help yourself quickly establish a foothold. After working for more than five years, you should try to loosen your ties. Don't stick to labels such as "I am the director of a large factory" and "I am an industry expert". If you leave this position one day, you will still be you.

Oh, yes, there is also "emotional labor compensation" that many people ignore. This term sounds academic, but in fact, to put it bluntly, it means that you have to find a place to make up for the negative emotions you have accumulated at work. A bank teller came to me for consultation before and said that he had to smile at customers for 8 hours a day. He didn't even want to talk when he got home, and he often had migraines. I gave her a very small idea: "call it a day" as soon as she leaves the bank gate after work. She can roll her eyes if she wants to, make a stinky face if she doesn't want to laugh, and buy her favorite cake as "emotional compensation" when passing by a dessert shop. She tried it for three months and never had migraines again. You see, it really doesn’t matter how much money you spend on psychological counseling. Just such a small action can solve most of the problems of emotional exhaustion.

When it comes to stress-resilient management, many people think that it means being "invulnerable" and being able to withstand no matter how big things happen. In fact, this is not the case at all. I prefer to compare it to the fast charging function of a mobile phone: you don’t need to require your battery to be always full, but you have to have your own fast charging head to quickly recharge it when it runs out of power. Some people fast-charge by playing basketball for half an hour after get off work, some people play with cats for 10 minutes, and some people just sit on the bench downstairs in the company for 10 minutes in a daze. Different schools have different suggestions on how to relieve stress. CBT cognitive behavioral therapy will teach you to break down the source of stress, such as "the project cannot be completed" into "there are still 3 links that have not been completed. Each link will take 2 days. I can ask a colleague to borrow a day for support." The mindfulness school will advise you to stop thinking about things and take 3 minutes of deep breathing to stabilize your emotions. No one is right or wrong, just use whatever is comfortable for you.

Let me tell you something very interesting. Last month, a product manager came to me and said that he had an argument with the developer about requirements and hid in the stairwell crying for half an hour. He felt that his interpersonal relationships in the workplace were too poor and he was a failure. In fact, this is a typical "interpersonal conflict tolerance" that has not been established. Many workplace bloggers say "you need to have a good relationship with all your colleagues." This is a purely false proposition. The workplace is a place where interests are exchanged. It is normal to have conflicts. As long as you "discuss the matter as it is and don't spread the work conflict to the personal level", it's enough. After the argument, you can turn around and have milk tea with the other party. This is normal tolerance. On the contrary, those who hold back their anger and dare not argue will be the one who suffers internal injuries in the end.

As for burnout warnings, you really don’t have to wait for a “diagnosis of depression” to take it seriously. You can feel the signs yourself: before you were very willing to chat with your colleagues about new project ideas, but now you don’t even want to hold a morning meeting.； I used to stay up until midnight working on a project I was interested in, but now I can’t even sit in front of the computer for an hour without moving. ； Even the lunch downstairs in the company that I loved to eat before is now unappetizing. These are all yellow light reminders. There are two opinions on how to deal with burnout. One group says, "Resign immediately and take a vacation." The other group says, "Don't be impulsive, just get over it." My own experience is that as long as you can still find 10% of the interesting things in your work, you don't have to quit, but amplify that 10% first. For example, if you are tired of making reports, can you try to create an automated template?

The last two dimensions are actually complementary: developmental expectation calibration and self-worth unbundling. Too many people are so fed up with chicken soup when they first graduate that they think they will be promoted to a supervisor in three years and will have an annual salary of one million in five years. When they see that their classmates have received a salary increase but they have not received an increase, they are so anxious that they cannot sleep. In fact, the industry is changing so fast now, and the upward path in many industries is narrowing. It is not that you are not good enough, but that your expectations have to be adjusted according to the environment. I used to have a friend who worked in teaching and training. He was a school principal before. After the adjustment of the teaching and training industry, he switched to corporate training. At first, he felt that he was particularly frustrated by the salary cut. Later, he adjusted his expectations: "Now I don't have to argue with parents, I can pick up my children on time after get off work, and my happiness is much higher than before." Expectations are never higher, the better, it is the right thing to match your own needs. Oh, yes, HR complained to me before that young people nowadays resign when they are criticized and are too fragile. Instead, I feel that this is exactly what young people are doing "unbundling self-worth": you can criticize me for not doing a good job, but you can't deny me as a person. I won't accept your PUA. This is not fragile, it is living a transparent life.

In fact, these eight contents do not require you to achieve perfect scores. There is no need to add a "mental health KPI" to yourself. Just adjust which one is the most painful at the moment. The most annoying thing now is that you are always being looked after after get off work, so you should first develop a sense of boundaries.； I've been feeling tired lately and don't want to go to work, so I'll first check to see if burnout is coming. To put it bluntly, the workplace is a place where you sell your time in exchange for money. It’s really not worth putting your entire person’s emotions, values, and meaning of life into it, right?