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The Workplace Health Insights series brings you the latest healthcare trends, interviews with medical experts and specialist insight from Bupa: all designed to keep you and your organisation one step ahead.
For the latest insights on supporting mental health in the workplace, take a look here.
When high performance masks anxiety
High performing or functioning anxiety is a mental health challenge which has only been recognised relatively recently but can lead to significant levels of distress.
The hallmark of this often-severe condition is that people who are affected continue to function effectively and are able to mask their symptoms from colleagues and family.
Having developed extensive coping mechanisms, their productivity and work performance often places them among the top performers in an organisation.
There is even evidence of some advantages to this condition, suggesting anxious people process threats more quickly and differently, using regions of the brain responsible for action.
This could, theoretically, give them an edge in business.
But this constant alertness and anxiety comes at a cost – the impact on their overall mental health and wellbeing can be severe.
Unhealthy coping strategies
People affected are often senior leaders in businesses and while supporting the mental health and wellbeing of their teams during the pandemic has been a priority, many executives are failing to protect their own mental health.
This is undermining their ability to maintain prolonged peak performance.
Unhealthy coping strategies such as alcohol, drugs and other addictive behaviours like gambling can be common.
But they can often hide the problem until the burden becomes unbearable and it is exposed by burnout or some other traumatic event.
The stigma which still surrounds mental health is also particularly challenging for workers in more senior roles.
Very few people around senior executives have experience of the pressures they face and there is also the question of who they can trust?
Resilience monitoring and input from different trusted professionals who can recognise any individual warning signs and triggers can help to address any issues.
This article has been abbreviated by Health & Protection. The full article on supporting mental health in the workplace can be found as part of the Workplace Health Insights series from Bupa, take a look here.