The NRF 2021 panel discussed mental health. Dave Zielinski, Stuart Poole and Lorna Borenstein participated (Photo: reproduction)
2020 was a year that we talk about a lot CheersNot only physical but also mental. Finally, brought with all changes Universal epidemic In such a short period of time, it has become even more necessary to talk about mental disorders. Mental health was one of the themes of NRF’s Retail Big Show 2021 – Chapter One this Thursday (1/14), on the virtual panel Workplace wellness: managing mental health in an era of uncertainty.
Panel journalist and moderator Dave Zielinski brought the data to understand how shaken people were: 54% of retail workers say work negatively impacted mental health during the epidemic. With this, 70% said that it was the most stressful moment of their career.
Lorca Borenstein, CEO of Groker, a company offering wellness solutions in companies, supported the data. “The tension is very real. Young workers, between 18 and 29 years old, suffer the most, ”says Borenstein. It affects other behaviors in the lives of these people, such as increased consumption of alcoholic beverages and consumption of unhealthy foods.
She says employers ‘role in employees’ mental health is critical to improving the issue. “If your workers don’t think they are allowed to talk about it, they won’t be able to ask for help,” he says. For that, she says, it is necessary to remove the negative stigma of mental disorders.
In your view, to help, to build a relationship with these people it would be good to understand what they are doing during this period. “Make sure they can be part of something bigger than themselves,” he says. For this, it is necessary to create communities in which people support and accept each other.
Stuart Polley, senior director of professional development at Headspace, a meditation app, says the mental health issue is not an epidemic problem, but rather has been exacerbated. According to him, a study in the United States and the United Kingdom showed that 42% of people were diagnosed with anxiety and / or depression. “There are not enough physicians in the world to handle this demand,” he says.
He agrees with Borenstein about the role of employers in reducing stigma towards mental disorders. In a way, he says, it is to encourage the leaders of the organization to share their stories related to these issues, reflecting their journey.
