Mental health still a taboo.

It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it” - Lou Holtz.

Many years have passed, but mental health has always been a subject of unspoken taboo. It almost feels like a shame to everyone, including the victim himself, that it is some kind of disease that shouldn't be named or spoken about. I don't really know why everyone tends to forget that mental health is as important as our physical health. If we can consider our body as a machine that can break at any moment in our lives, then our mental health is also the same. It can also sometimes fall ill and take the same amount or even longer time to heal, and it also deserves the help of a doctor or an expert too.

Yes, we can see some positive changes that have been made over the years. People can talk more freely about their emotions. Society has also started to look at them with a sympathetic eye, but going to the doctor or therapist has still been only accepted in metropolitan cities.

As city life, rather, I must say corporate lifestyle may create more anxieties, as it tries to constrain us, isolate us, hence making us feel lonely, outcast. City life is busy, and while its charms and perks are so bright and colourful, it also has lots of baggage. It makes us feel empty as it doesn't let us breathe, doesn't give us the calm when everything else feels so overwhelming. Corporate life today often pushes employees into a cycle of high pressure, long working hours, and constant competition, which quietly erodes their mental well-being. Many people struggle with stress, burnout, and a sense of emotional exhaustion as they try to meet deadlines and maintain productivity. The fear of falling behind or appearing “weak” often stops them from speaking up about their struggles, making the issue even more invisible. As boundaries between work and personal life blur, individuals find it harder to rest or disconnect, leading to anxiety, sleep disturbances, and reduced motivation. We always think that if we take a little break from everything may be everything will be alright, our heart will heal. As they say oh so kindly,” Time heals everything”. But it doesn't have to work in that way always. Sometimes medications are important, and clear conversations are needed to clear our head and heart. Sometimes, some emotions are too hard to deal with alone. Need someone special to really guide us, help us, listen to us.

The data revealed an increase in suicide risk from 19% in 2023 to 22% in 2024, and distress cases from 12% in 2023 to 17% in 2024.. “Alarmingly, 59% of employees referred by their managers showed signs of self-harm, reaffirming the need for manager training to help and support distressed employees,” stated the report, revealing that the dependents of employees are at higher risk of suicide. While counselling related to workplace concerns constituted 11% of the total counselling sessions, workplace relationship-related discussions claimed the top spot, comprising 23% of all such discussions. News of suicide is also not uncommon recently, Chennai:

A 38-year-old software engineer suffering from depression died by suicide at his home in Chennai. Police said Karthikeyan electrocuted himself, and his wife found him tangled in a live wire. Some reports have claimed that Karthikeyan had complained of depression due to work pressure. The Goldman Sachs Analyst Burnout Incident (2021) is also an important news item to share on this, as a group of first-year analysts at Goldman Sachs publicly reported working 95–100-hour workweeks, suffering from severe stress, sleep deprivation, anxiety, and emotional breakdowns. Their slide deck — now famous stated:

“I didn’t come into this job expecting 9 am–5 pm, but I also didn’t expect to be expected to do 9 am–3 am.”

This incident sparked a global conversation about mental health in corporate settings and how employees avoid speaking up due to fear of being judged or replaced. The tragic case of a Deloitte employee in India (2019) also showed that a young Deloitte employee in India died by suicide after months of intense work pressure. Investigations and employee testimonies reveal that toxic workload, expectation to be available 24/7, and the lack of a safe space to talk about mental health have been the real reasons behind these suicides.

This real incident highlights how corporate fear, stigma, and emotional suppression can turn into something deeply tragic — a strong reminder of why mental health openness is essential.

Friends, families, relatives, they all try to help, but there are certain limitations and boundaries in every relationship that we have to give respect to, which restrict us from sharing every corner of our heart with them, as we feel that this person may judge us. We may seem to them as ‘weirdos’ as we tend to talk about the same things again and again. And when these feelings all attack us together, it becomes so difficult to act normally as per the standards of society. And this raises the question of why corporate employees especially fail to seek help when they need this most?

Many corporate employees feel threatened to seek help for mental health problems because they fear being judged as weak, worry about losing career opportunities, and doubt whether their struggles will remain confidential. High-pressure work cultures often promote the idea of pushing through stress, making individuals feel guilty for needing support. As a result, stigma, mistrust, and competition create an environment where employees hesitate to speak up, even when they are struggling.

So first and foremost, it should be our basic duty to make this thing as normal as living itself is. We proudly boast about our blood pressure or blood sugar levels. Talking about mental health should also be a general topic, not some unnamed villain. We must teach our next generation and also ourselves that it is okay to talk about our emotions, it's okay to take help from others when our heart feels so heavy to deal with on our own. Life is already so difficult with so many standards to maintain for living in society, talking and taking help for our mental health shouldn't be such a load on our heads. Simple actions—like flexible schedules, regular check-ins, mental-health awareness programs, and a culture that celebrates balance instead of burnout—can make daily work feel less stressful and far more human.

And as a society, it is our human duty to at least provide a safe, cozy, and warm place for those who are dealing with these things constantly. We shouldn't become another demon that they have to conquer to live a better life. We must provide them with the proper care and love that they deserve. Not to point out someone with the label of weirdo or different just because their emotions are not in balance in that particular movement and day at it out differently and they don't know anything better than that. We should live and let live without any judgment for the betterment of society as well as for ourselves. A more anxiety-free corporate lifestyle can be built by creating workplaces where communication is open, workloads are realistic, and support systems are easy to access.

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