Investing in the mental health of your team

http://shreef.com/2013/03/investing-in-the-mental-health-of-your-team/

by ashreef • 13 years ago

17 8 13 years ago

gpcz2• 13 years ago

Are you sure you would want a psychiatrist rather than a psychologist? Personally I would feel very uncomfortable having someone under my employer prescribing me psych meds. Also, while it might work well for sports teams, in knowledge work the majority of what I'd need untangled by the psychologist would be work-related, and a full time psychologist/psychiatrist would have a conflict of interest since he/she's being paid by the company. I would not be able to open up to them on that subject.

adanto6840• 13 years ago

In the US I would think you'd be covered (in theory, at least) by doctor-patient confidentiality, no?

gpcz2• 13 years ago

In theory, yes. I guess I just wouldn't trust my career's integrity on such a flimsy notion, especially when the psychologist would be on the same payroll. Maybe I have trust issues.

andrewem• 13 years ago

The OP's English is clearly not native-level, so I think it's safe to assume that what's meant is a sports psychologist, which according to [1] Real Madrid has employed for many years.

[1] http://pendientedemigracion.ucm.es/info/Psyap/hispania/cruz....

ashreef2• 13 years ago

yeah, you're right. I used to think that a psychiatrist do the same thing as a psychologist.

I did update the article again to correct this. thanks for making me notice that.

About dealing with a psychologist that get paid by your employer. I think it should be stated clearly by the company that this person is here to support all of us, and s/he doesn't report anything to the senior managers about what s/he knows about anyone here. the job of the psychologist is to help solve problems by listening, giving advice and keeping secrets.

jordo37• 13 years ago

I am very curious about this. Does anyone have personal or even second-hand stories of a mental health professional for startups? I know of plenty of companies who do things to make employees "happy" - massages, free food, high salary - but I have never heard of a company directly focused on helping each employee have a sound mind.

In my opinion, this just makes sense. Especially in a small startup, the stresses the team feels are well beyond what most employees are used to and there have been several accounts of the impact of that depression.[1] [2] Teaching employees effective strategies to deal with stress or even just to talk through and help manage other mental factors in their lives seems like a logical choice for success, but again I have never heard of it and would love to hear more.

[1]http://bubs.co/if-you-ever-feel-alone-in-this

[2]http://blog.launch.co/blog/should-we-talk-about-the-fact-tha...

pauldelany• 13 years ago

"While those football players are getting 6 figures salaries"

- just to note, some of those players get 6 figure sums per week, not 6 figure salaries!

ashreef2• 13 years ago

yes, I missed a lot of money for not continuing to play football after high school.

Investing in the mental health of your team

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