Ex-banker Marta Ra helps top executives recover at the world's most luxurious treatment clinic. The head of Switzerland's Paracelsus Recovery tells finews.asia what problems have surfaced since the pandemic – and which are evergreens.
Marta Ra, bankers are frequently depicted in popular media as highly stressed, with emotional issues, and prone to drug-taking and violence. How realistic is that?
I assume you mean series like «Bad Banks» on Netflix or films like «The Wolf of Wall Street». These portrayals represent an accentuated version of reality and not the majority of bankers or the finance industry.
However, the topics popular media touch on do exist. The financial services industry is always dynamic, and stress isn't uncommon – even just from markets moving.
Why?
We live in uncertain times, which gives most people a sense of insecurity. We like certainty and order since a subjective sense of predictability is more comfortable and something we have grown accustomed to.
«Stress, anxiety, depression – or even existential worries»
Financial markets are highly unpredictable, as we know, and the world is changing, not just politically. Climate change, as well as the pandemic we're currently in, are global issues that we as individuals can hardly influence – that makes us insecure and overwhelms us.
What does that sense of being overwhelmed lead to?
It leads to stress, anxiety, depression, possibly conflict in our relationships or even existential worries. Many executives in top management not only shoulder an enormous amount of responsibility but frequently also a large or even international team.
What has changed in that respect during the pandemic?
The new reality, for many working from home, is perceived and experienced differently. Depression that existed before the coronavirus can become more pronounced in the new routine, or can no longer be hidden from view – and emerge.
«Psychological stress is still stigmatized in the C-suite»
The lack of access to the usual stress-coping mechanisms like gyms or even social interaction raises the risk of loneliness. We need people to talk to.
Is this comparable to the symptoms of burnout?
I wouldn't call it burnout – which is another type of stress which affects our mental health and is known as a negative type of stress. Top executives faced constant psychological pressure before the pandemic broke out.
If many executives felt this pressure before the crisis, where was it coming from?
One reason is certainly the stigma: psychological stress or dependencies are still taboo in management, but also more widely in our society. A visit to an ophthalmologist is viewed as completely normal, while a visit to a psychologist can be interpreted as a weakness, instability, or inability to work under pressure.
Top executives and leaders are usually driven, performance-oriented people with a lot of stamina who are asked to deliver quite a bit – at the moment, even more than usual.
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