Workplace mental health and workplace psychological adjustment

The core answer regarding mental health and adjustment in the workplace is actually very straightforward: workplace psychological problems are never a unilateral problem of "poor personal ability to withstand stress", and the core of adjustment is by no means forced to "quit emotions" or "maintain positive energy". The essence is to find the dynamic balance between personal ability boundaries, professional demands and the rules of the environment. There is no universal standard answer, only what suits you is effective.

The 2023 Domestic Workplace Mental Health Survey shows that more than 68% of respondents have experienced symptoms of job burnout, and only 17% of them have taken the initiative to take adjustment measures. The rest either have to endure it until they have physical problems, or their minds are so hot that they fall into greater anxiety. In the seven years I have been working in HR, I have seen too many people attribute signs such as "being bored at work" or "hearing work group notifications and their heartbeat speeding up" because they are "too fragile." It wasn't until they went to the doctor for insomnia for half a month that they realized they had reached the point where intervention was needed.

In fact, the debate on this issue in academic circles has never stopped, and there is no unified conclusion. Researchers in the school of positive psychology prefer to start from the individual level and believe that improving psychological resilience and establishing emotional buffer zones are the core. Methods such as mindfulness meditation and cognitive behavioral adjustment do have a significant effect on short-term mood swings. I have friends who work in operations. I take 10 minutes every day to do breathing exercises before going to bed. When I rush to catch a big sale, I do have a lot less time to stand still than before. However, scholars in the field of organizational behavior put forward a completely different view: more than 70% of psychological stress reactions in the workplace are caused by unreasonable settings at the organizational level - such as meaningless overtime culture, vague boundaries of authority and responsibility, and even deliberate workplace PUA. In this case, individuals are blindly required to "adjust their mentality," which is essentially a cover for mismanagement.

Two years ago, I came into contact with a designer from a design institute who was asked to change his plan until early in the morning for three consecutive months. At that time, the psychological counselor he found himself made cognitive adjustments to him and asked him to think from another perspective: "Changing the plan is to improve his ability." As a result, he became more anxious after adjusting for half a month, and even began to suffer from hand tremors. Later, he simply resigned and went to a small firm that did not require overtime work. Now he has taken on several award-winning projects. The last time we met, he was in a frightening state. He said that now he can go for a half-hour ride by the riverside after get off work every day. When he changed the plan, no one forced him to produce ten versions in three days. You see, some problems really can’t be solved by just “thinking it through”.

Many people have a misunderstanding about "psychological adjustment". They think that it is necessary to hold back emotions and become an emotionally stable adult. It is really unnecessary. I have seen too many people who suppress their emotions to get sick. On the contrary, those who find an outlet for themselves go further. A young girl from the sales department that I once coached would go to the stairwell and squat for five minutes every time she was scolded by a customer. Whether she cursed or shed a few tears, she would get over her emotions before coming back to change the plan. Her performance was among the top three in the department for two consecutive years. There is also a male colleague who works in technology. When he is stressed, he goes to the convenience store downstairs of the company to buy a popsicle and squats on the roadside to eat it. All his worries are gone with the popsicle. You really don’t have to learn any fancy emotion management methods. As long as it doesn’t affect others, you can use whatever tricks you like.

Of course, this does not mean that resigning will solve all problems. I saw a girl who resigned last year. I originally thought that she would be fine if she resigned. However, she stayed at home for three months, stopped socializing, and became more anxious as her savings became less and less. In the end, she found a job with a slightly lower salary than before but without overtime work. The premise of adjustment is that you must first understand your own situation: if you just have to rush on projects recently and just finish the work, you can definitely give yourself a small welfare buffer, take 10 minutes every day to go downstairs to buy a cup of coffee you like, and invite friends to go hiking on the weekend. It is much more efficient than just holding on. ； If you have been feeling nauseous just thinking about going to work every day for more than half a year, then stop giving yourself chicken soup and either talk to your boss about a job transfer or update your resume quickly. The cost of surviving depression is much higher than changing jobs.

By the way, don’t be embarrassed to use the company’s EAP (Employee Assistance Program) service. Many people think that seeking a counselor means there is something wrong with them. This is not true. Just like if you have pain in your neck after sitting for a long time and need to move around, it is normal to talk to a professional when you feel uncomfortable. I know a product manager who talks to an EAP consultant for half an hour every week. To put it bluntly, he finds someone who won’t leak secrets to complain about.

In fact, the workplace is only a part of life, not all of it. You don’t have to ask yourself to always be perfect at work. It’s not a big deal if you have an occasional breakdown, catch a fish, or even slap the table against unreasonable demands (of course, provided you are reasonable). After all, we work to live a better life, not to make ourselves sick, right?