Why everyone wants to work in mental health

Recently, I've been getting queries from across the internet from those who want to work in mental health. At first blush, this seems great! Mental health has finally arrived--the stigma has lifted, people want to get involved, say things out loud, become advocates and live their passion. Or so it might seem.

Unfortunately, I think the underlying reason everyone wants to work in mental health is because they're suffering. Because many workplaces are toxic. Because they're overworked, their boss is a narcissist, they're having anxiety dreams, their work/life is out of balance or they're looking for a way out.

They fear they're sacrificing their health and longevity for a job, and they just aren't sure they can take it anymore.

My colleague, the national director of workplace mental health at the Canadian Mental Health Association, recently led a webinar for Charity Village on what makes a mentally healthy workplace. With very little promotion, the webinar registration shot way over capacity, filled all 1,000 slots and landed almost 4,000 people on the waiting list. A webinar about mental health in the not-for-profit workplace had almost 5,000 people sign up for it!

This could mean that this is a hot topic.

Or, it could mean that everyone who works in a not-for-profit is nearing burnout, feeling stressed, and falling victim to the reality that not-for-profit work usually means that there is too much to do, and too few resources to do it.

Maybe rather than everyone looking to work in mental health, we should be focusing on bringing mental health to work.