If you’re a business owner or you worked in an office with people before the pandemic, you’ve definitely seen and even experienced how the pandemic has not only challenged personal relationships but also how that has bled into the workplace.In Q4 of 2021, there has been a 184% increase in PTSD expressed amongst workers compared to pre-COVID. How do we then work around those challenges and ensure a work environment that has more meaning and more connection?How COVID Impacted Professional Relationships
The mental health impact in the work environment.
In the workplace, we’re seeing a manifestation of mental health problems, especially in people who’ve never really had anything clinical in nature. And for those who do, their mental health problems have been exasperated, such as:
Stress
Depression
Anxiety
PTSD
OCD-type behaviors
Addiction
In the fourth quarter of 2021, there was a 184% increase in PTSD expressed amongst workers compared to pre-COVID. As a result, it has affected people’s capacity to work and their ability to focus and they are having a harder time coping.
Isolation
We probably have all felt the isolation brought about by the pandemic that just goes against our basic human needs. Pre-COVID, we spend a good majority of our day in the work environment with co-workers. And so, we were used to this continuity of connection with other people. But in order for people to have healthy relationships, they have to have a continuity of connection or continuity of care.
Managing expectations
There has been a lot of fear during the pandemic where people are concerned about whether they’re going to get back to work. There’s that lack of job security and whether the company is going to care about them.
A polarization of attitudes about the pandemic
We see this in the workplace as we do see it at home and in the community. People who may have different views on how to approach it and live with it can get into conflict over it. They can get very passionate about their thoughts, feelings, and positions. As a result, previously close relationships now can become threatened and become damaged by their differences, and people don’t really know how to safely engage about the topic. How to work around the challenges to professional relationships:
Address your mental and wellness needs as an individual
Do an occasional check-in with your co-worker to show them you care
Be intentional in seeking opportunities to reconnect with people, but also while respecting their level of comfort.
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