Mental Health at Work: What Good Is a Resource You Can’t Use?

Let’s talk about workplace mental health initiatives—and why some of them are nothing more than decorative bandaids on a gaping wound.

I used to work in a high-stress corporate environment managing over 100 clients and $4.5 million in revenue. Sounds impressive, right? What that really means is: I was exhausted. Every ding of my inbox or ring of the phone was another demand. Big or small, it all piled up.

Mental health resources? Oh sure, they existed. But when exactly was I supposed to use them—between emails, back-to-back calls, fire drills, and metrics so intense they were designed for robots or people who had nothing else going on in life?

I took my lunch away from my desk maybe fifteen times in two years. FIFTEEN. In two years. And talking to my boss about it? Not a safe option. He wasn’t interested in solving problems—he was interested in looking good. And if you didn’t fit that aesthetic? You were out.

I tied my whole identity to that job. I was going to retire there. I thought I had made it.

Spoiler alert: I hadn’t. I was burning out. Hard.

Eventually, I realized something had to give—and it couldn’t keep being me. So, I walked away. And The Purple Owl was born.

Now I’m doing things differently. I’m healing. I’m resting. I’m rebuilding. On my terms.

So, to anyone still stuck in a system where your wellness is just a checkbox on someone else’s spreadsheet: I see you. I was you. And you deserve better.

By: Jess E