Is there a correlation between your work environment and your mental health? For some, the answer is no but most would say 100%. Those people that see zero correlation most likely have jobs they enjoy with coworkers they consider friends. While most of my adult working life has not been horrible, I think that this correlation exists and have witnessed it first hand as a leader and in my own life.
The Army is fairly high tempo in comparison to most other jobs, with leaders and subordinates taking on multiple duties at once to ensure operations continue in garrison and deployed. These duties and due outs almost always pile up on even the most organized soldier, but the reaction to that pile is what lingers long after all the work is complete. This scenario is one I have personally lived over and over as an S2, platoon leader and security manager. Having an entire brigade rely on you for clearances and arms rooms inspections doesn’t sound that bad, but when you have hundreds of people asking you to help them, the stress becomes overwhelming. For me it resulted in living a year of my life in the darkness, filled with doubt that I could make the Army a career.
At some point toward the end of 2019, I finally decided that I was tired of letting a job, in which I’m very replaceable, cause me unbearable stress. In order to do that I understood that it would take personal development, which is something I will continue to work. Having had unsuccessful counseling through all different mediums, I finally decided to pull the trigger and sign up for online counseling. With social anxiety, in person appointments were always incredibly uncomfortable so it has been great to do them from the comfort of my own home. Reaching out for guidance pertaining to mental health and stress is not selfish, in fact it’s the complete opposite because no soldier, no matter what rank wants a leader that lets their mental health get in the way of their job.
I’m not sure if this helps or gives insite, but in my book, work stress 100% coorelates to mental health. The next time you consider not doing something for yourself that could pay dividends in the long run, remember that you were looking for a job when you found the one you have and if you do leave for any reason, your position will be filled before you can blink. Reactions are everything in a world where so much is asked of you, so make sure you have coping skills for those days that just don’t go your way. YOU are most important person in your world and you must believe that before you can ever hope to be successful in other endeavors.
Learning to Manage the Unmanagable 