Science in Sport CEO Stephen Moon on mental health in the workplace and opening up about his own mental health journey.

In this episode I'm looking at the complex issue of mental health in the workplace. Before we get to that a reminder that this month you can buy a Blackdog jersey in partnership with Sportful with all profits going to Movember.

 

There are some pretty shocking stats about mental health in the workplace;  depression or anxiety are responsible for 54% of all working days lost due to health issues in the UK.

 

1 in 5 people take a day off due to stress. Yet, 90% of these people cited a different reason for their absence. Even more worrying is that 9% of employees who disclosed mental health issues to their boss reported being disciplined,  demoted or even dismissed.

 

Clearly then, despite the huge impact, the workplace is still a pretty unfriendly place when it comes to mental health, and telling people at work about a mental health issue is still a very difficult and risky thing to do.

 

To tackle this subject I'm joined by a business leader who's confronted these issues head on, Stephen Moon the CEO of sports nutrition company Science in Sport.

 

Stephen shares his own mental health story and talks about his decision to go public with it after years of writing an anonymous blog on the subject. He describes the overwhelming positive reaction he experienced and the impact it's had on the business he leads. We also dig into why there's still such a stigma around metal health in the workplace and why ultimately we need more senior business leaders like Stephen to start talking about this.

 

Links to items mentioned in the podcast:

Get a Blackdog / Sportful jersey and support Movember.

Mental Health In The Workplace Stats

Stephen's Blog

Inside Out

Netflix Documentary Breaking Point

Nike's Big Bet (Alberto Salazar Documentary)