As World Mental Health Day approaches, many businesses will be rolling out initiatives to raise awareness around mental health. There will be posters, workshops, and messages from leadership expressing support for employee wellbeing. While these actions are encouraging, through my work as a hypnotherapist specialising in stress and anxiety, I’ve seen a recurring pattern among my clients: despite these efforts, many employees feel that corporate mental health initiatives are just a surface-level commitment, with little lasting change.
In my previous career in the corporate world, I noticed similar trends. While my own experiences gave me insight into how companies approach mental health, it is through my clients that I’ve come to understand how widespread this issue is. It’s not uncommon for companies to make a big deal about mental health on such days, only to revert to business as usual once the spotlight dims. But for meaningful change, mental health support has to go beyond a tick-box exercise—it needs to be embedded in the company culture.
The Corporate Mental Health Paradox
Several of my clients work in environments where their employers promote mental health awareness, particularly on days like World Mental Health Day. Many also offer wellness apps, and publicly advocate for mental wellbeing, particularly in their mission statements. Yet, many of my clients feel that these initiatives, while well-intentioned, do little to change the realities of their work environments.
The challenges they describe are all too familiar: high-pressure workplaces with unrealistic deadlines, workloads and expectations, lack of ongoing support, and a culture that still stigmatises mental health concerns to some degree, despite what’s said in company-wide communications. Many employees feel that their employers are ticking off a legal or ethical box, rather than truly engaging with mental health in a way that addresses its root causes.
Recognising the Companies That Get It Right
It’s important to acknowledge that not all companies fall into this pattern, as I’ve seen for myself.
Throughout my corporate career with various companies, I witnessed first-hand how some companies would mark such occassions as World Mental Health Day with initiatives that appeared to lack genuine commitment. And while those actions certainly raised awareness, they sometimes left me—and others—feeling that the deeper issues of workplace burnout were left untouched.
That said, I’ve also experienced first-hand examples of companies that got it right, where mental health was treated as a priority and woven into the very fabric of the workplace culture. These companies were the exception, but they proved that real, meaningful change is possible. Some do take mental health seriously and create environments where employees feel genuinely supported year-round. These employers recognise that mental health isn’t something to be addressed just one day a year but is an ongoing commitment. They invest in resources, provide regular access to support, and—most importantly—create a company culture where employees can speak openly about their mental health without fear of judgment.
However, for many businesses, this is still a work in progress, and the gap between corporate promises and employee experiences is often stark.
Moving Beyond Awareness to Real Action
Through my clients’ stories, it’s clear that what’s missing is a deeper, more sustained approach to mental health support. Employers often focus on awareness, but awareness alone doesn’t solve the problem. Real action requires looking at the workplace culture itself and making adjustments that support the mental wellbeing of employees on a daily basis.
Some key elements of this approach include:
- Ongoing and Accessible Support: Employees need consistent access to mental health resources, such as therapy and counselling services, mental health days, or flexible work arrangements. These services need to be easy to access and normalised, not something employees feel they have to justify or avoid using for fear of being seen as weak or incapable.
- Addressing the Root Causes of Workplace Stress and Anxiety: Rather than just offering temporary fixes like wellness programs, companies could look at the structures that create stress and anxiety in the first place. This includes re-evaluating workloads, deadlines, and work-life balance to create environments where employees can thrive without sacrificing their mental health.
- Leadership Training: Many clients report that their managers, while supportive in theory, don’t actually know how to handle mental health issues in practice. Training managers to recognise and respond to mental health concerns in a compassionate and proactive way can make a huge difference in fostering a supportive workplace.
Aligning Strengths with Work: A Key to Reducing Stress and Anxiety
As part of my approach in working with clients, one of the most powerful tools I use is helping individuals identify their core values and strengths and evaluating how aligned these strengths are with their current work. A significant source of anxiety can stem from feeling disconnected from the work we do, or from being in environments that don’t value or utilise our key strengths.
By guiding clients through this process, we can often uncover areas where their work is misaligned with their natural talents, interests, and values. For some, this can lead to adjustments within their current role, while for others, it may involve a bigger career shift. Aligning work with strengths not only helps reduce stress and anxiety but also enhances a person’s sense of fulfilment and purpose. When our work aligns with who we are at our core, we are more likely to thrive, both mentally and emotionally.
A Call for Authentic Change
As we observe World Mental Health Day this year, I urge employers to take a moment to reflect. Are your mental health initiatives creating real, lasting change? Or are they just an annual event to check off a list? For true progress, mental health needs to be a part of everyday conversations, not just something highlighted once a year.
And for those individuals struggling with anxiety or stress, whether at work or elsewhere, I want you to know that support is available. Through approaches like cognitive hypnotherapy, we can work together to uncover your strengths, realign your work with your true self, and build resilience in the face of stress. Let’s use this day as a reminder that mental health matters every day, and that real, transformative change is possible—both in the workplace and within ourselves.
Hypnoasis 