Encouraging high performance professionals to seek help
An Insight Session with Dr Jason T. Siegel
We were very pleased to be joined yesterday by Dr Jason T. Siegel, (professor of psychology in Claremont Graduate University’s Division of Behavioural &Organizational Sciences and co-director of the Institute for Health Psychology& Prevention Science) who talked us through his science-based approach to encouraging high performers to seek support for their mental health.
High performing professionals in a variety of sectors often experience mental ill health, stress, anxiety and depression, but can also experience a reluctance to seek support.
What holds these professionals back from seeking help?
· Those with depression experience thinking differently. This includes;
o An excessively negative bias - especially when thinking about one’s self
o Cognitive errors such as black or white thinking, magnification of problems and minimisation of enablers, overgeneralisation and behaviours that enable negative self-fulfilling prophesies.
o Feeling like they are a burden on friends and family, and feelings of guilt if they need to ask for support or rely on them.
· Professional pride - there may be ideas that due to having a role with lots of responsibility that they “should just be able to cope” or a fear of displaying weakness in a competitive field or associated stigma.
· The distorted thinking caused by depression often makes accessing support seem pointless, or likely to cause them more problems than just carrying on “as normal”.
What kinds of interventions can work?
· Ensure information is provided - people are unlikely to seek help if they don’t recognise symptoms. Information provision also helps colleagues and friends to recognise when others might need support. The information should focus on the positive and highlight that depression is treatable.
· There is evidence that negative thought patterns mentioned above are limited to the individual- they don’t extend to others. As such, interventions that don’t directly target the person – for example a poster headed “Do you know someone who is distressed? Feeling hopeless? Worthless? They might be depressed. It is not their fault that they are depressed…They have an illness – an illness that can be overcome!” is received much better than one which says “Are you distressed? Feeling hopeless? Worthless? You might be depressed.” etc.
· Positive emotion infusion – opportunities to temporarily increase mood, through music, connection, positive experiences etc increase cognitive flexibility, future orientated thinking and an increased ability to seek help.
· We need to ensure help is available immediately - so if for example we hold a meeting to discuss workplace mental health, we need to ensure that support through EAP’s, MHFA’s, referrals to other mental health professionals is available in the moment.
· Storytelling can be very helpful, especially when done by a senior member of staff. This helps to normalise mental ill health, normalise help seeking, and infuse positive emotion through examples of help being received. (Dr Jason did however say it is best NOT to mention stigma. After all, it may be that you aren’t concerned about stigma until someone else mentions it!)
Employees of MBC member organisations can view the whole talk, and the accompanying slides to explore these ideas in more detail in the MBC Members Forum.
Leading modern workplaces understand that effective wellbeing strategies involve looking at the causes of unnecessary stress, and removing them, to build healthier, more productive workplaces. Join us to be one of them.