I have been in business more than 30 years and I have been involved in many ventures: telecoms, retail, building and contracting, to name a few.
During this time I’ve watched a curious trend develop: an epidemic of stress.
When I started my first business in the 1980s, workplace stress was reserved for a few small groups: executives, partners in professional services firms and business owners.
These people were the ones who worked too hard and stressed themselves.
Over the years things changed and now it seems the entire workforce is up to their necks in stress. People are working harder than ever, to pay for an ever increasingly expensive cost of living.
It has become a vicious and dangerous circle affecting our mental health.
One of the symptoms of this over-worked, over stressed society is the number of people who are depression. It doesn’t hit everyone the same way, in my experience: for some, it’s harder to get out of bed in the morning; for others, they have complete breakdowns and may never re-join the workforce again.
Sadly, many people who are suffering depression don’t know they have it and they don’t know the early signs; many more don’t know what to do when it strikes and others who know they are ill keep it hidden from family, employers and colleagues.
I have had people close to me who have been afflicted with this illness and it can strike people differently. I’ve also come to the conclusion that many people would respond to it faster and more proactively if they knew there was a practical way of dealing with depression: a method that made sense and that worked.
I believe the ADAA has that solution in the Fountainhead Method and I look forward to working with Wayne as he promotes practical action against this terrible affliction.