Property professionals are not immune from struggles

COMMENT: There’s no doubt that there has been a definite shift in acknowledging mental health in recent times. There have been a number of high-profile disclosures, from royalty to musicians, actors and even names from the “macho” world of professional sports such as football, rugby and boxing, in a way that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago. For a long time, though, it was felt that the real estate industry lagged behind other professions: surveyors who called LionHeart’s helpline often cited a profit-driven culture, which brought with it a pressure to perform 24/7, and a reluctance to admit they were feeling stressed or anxious, in case it was perceived as weakness. The result was that people were often working themselves way past the point of being healthy. Either they ignored all the signs that they were struggling or they simply didn’t see them, until sometimes they ended up at the point of breakdown. Those who called LionHeart often felt they were at rock bottom. Hardly any of them, however, attributed that to their mental health until experienced support officers began to draw them out and they felt able to acknowledge that, yes, they might be feeling stressed, anxious or depressed. Still there was an overarching feeling that mental health problems didn’t happen to “people like us” – as if property professionals were immune, somehow. However, uptake of LionHeart’s counselling service began to rise, and continues to rise year-on-year. Now roughly one in seven of the people who call us for help do so because of a mental health challenge, matching the number of people who call us due to a serious physical illness or disability for the first time. There’s also an increase in self-awareness – more people ringing and saying: “Look, I need help; I think I need counselling.” Some way to go LionHeart’s wellbeing support, including our training and development offer as well as more traditional support, has been the area in which we’ve seen most growth and demand over the past five years or so. Our own research had shown that this was an area of concern for a majority of RICS professionals. Yet even we were surprised by the results of the recent mental health survey carried out by EG, which revealed the number of property professionals who had experienced mental health problems, either themselves or in colleagues, and a surprisingly large number who had been personally affected by suicide. There’s no doubt that mental health is something that affects every workplace in some form: almost a third of us will be affected at some point in our lives, which is an astonishing statistic. Although big strides have been made in increasing openness and changing attitudes in the industry, it still feels like there is some way to go. What is encouraging is that firms are beginning to really build mental health and wellbeing into their strategies. In the past couple of years, LionHeart has delivered around 100 mental health workshops, roughly half of which have been requested by our corporate partner firms. There was an overarching feeling that mental health problems didn’t happen to “people like us” Our mental health ambassadors (all chartered surveyors with first-hand experience of mental health issues) are also playing a hugely important role in helping to spread the message that people can and do recover, with the right support. These conversations are encouraging others to seek help and to recognise that they are not alone: that mental health challenges do not necessarily spell the end of the career they’ve worked so hard to forge. It’s vital that these shifts in attitude and increasing literacy in mental health awareness are backed by a top-down industry approach. Firms must increasingly place diversity, inclusion and flexibility at the heart of their staff policies, because they recognise not only the financial and business reasons but also the moral case for keeping their workforces happy and healthy. Having prominent support from organisations such as EG can only help to keep the subject firmly on the agenda, and we are very happy to be working alongside them. Juliet Smithson is head of operations at LionHeart Help and support If you need help with any issues raised in this article, you can get support from: Mind, the mental health charity 0300 123 3393 – provides advice and support to anyone experiencing a mental health problem The Samaritans 116 123 – confidential 24-hour support for people who are experiencing feelings of distress or despair, or suicidal thoughts LionHeart  0800 009 2960 or 0121 289 3300 – charity for RICS professionals and real estate professionals Photo: Ricardo Demurez/imageBROKER/Shutterstock