Soft Skills/Interpersonal, Leadership
An Empathy and Science-Based Playbook to Wellbeing in a Pandemic By: Tara Davis American Psychological Association
The COVID-19 pandemic has invaded every aspect of our lives, leaving no space unscathed. More than a year and a half into this pandemic, we are still feeling the effects and our mental health is suffering the consequences. In March, APA’s Stress in America™ poll ( https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress) found that 84 percent of adults report feeling at least one emotion associated with prolonged stress (e.g., anxiety, sadness, anger). The prolonged stress is showing up via undesired weight changes, sleeping disruptions, and increased alcohol usage, as we try to cope with this unprecedented time. The most recent Stress in America survey (https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2021/octoberdecision-making ) found that one in three Americans are sometimes so stressed about the coronavirus pandemic that they struggle to make even basic decisions (e.g., what to wear, what to eat, etc.). On top of the mental health pandemic sweeping the nation, specific groups of people are more susceptible to the effects—parents (especially those whose children are virtual learning), essential workers, people of color, and Gen Z adults. Half of parents said the level of stress in their life has increased compared with before the pandemic. Black Americans are facing additional layers of racial trauma in the wake of the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many other Black Americans in the past year, along with the disproportionate toll of the pandemic and economic downturn. While we face the highest documented levels of stress in history, we continue working, if we are lucky. The workplace was not spared from the pandemic’s implications. Nearly 83% of employees
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Insight • Issue 4, 2021
surveyed by Mental Health America in 2021 (https://mhanational. org/research-reports/2021-mind-workplace-report) reported feeling emotionally drained from work and were experiencing early signs of burnout. While a focus on employee wellbeing may have been considered a nice-to-have in the past, it is now a requirement for organizational stability with the mental health of so many Americans deteriorating or at risk. What might it look like to create a mental health friendly workplace, particularly during a pandemic and when the workplace looks very different from how it used to? First, it is important to remember that context and culture are key. You can’t just take what works for another organization or what worked for your organization a year ago and expect employees to be receptive. Consider the culture of your organization—what do your employees really need right now, this week? Think about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs—what must first occur for your employees to even begin to think about their work? Which employees are facing additional layers of stress and how can you support them? Research shows that a psychologically healthy workplace fosters employee health and wellbeing while also enhancing organizational performance. APA’s psychologically healthy workplace model, established long before the pandemic, has five domains of sciencebased workplace practices that correlate with a healthy work environment: employee involvement, health and safety, work-life integration, employee recognition, and employee growth and development. The foundation of the five domains is communication,
