It’s good that you noticed this! We all respond to pressure in different ways, and some of us express this more outwardly. But if your colleague seems more stressed than usual, and it’s been going on a while, it could be a sign of a mental health problem.
Tips:
- Whatever the case, just asking how they’re doing can go a long way.
- Try to take their lead: they might not want to talk about it, and that’s okay - it can be really tricky to start talking about your mental health at work.
- If you have a good relationship and it feels appropriate, you might investigate what changes they (or your employer) could make to manage their stress.
- When asking someone how they’re doing, you might want to do this away from other people
“And when he saw me struggling at work, he was there for me. When it came to the crunch, when I needed someone to have my back about something that was making my anxiety worse – Tom stepped up.” – Lucy