This story is part of State of Mind, a special package covering mental health at work. Fast Company also has an excerpt of Bonobos cofounder Andy Dunn’s new memoir, Burn Rate, about growing his company while having bipolar disorder, and looks at how Alicia Keys is expanding her business interests mindfully.
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.
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