The day is a citywide initiative aimed at changing attitudes surrounding mental health at work.
Kenneth Cole at the Wellbeing at Work day launch. COURTESY OF KENNETH COLE
NEW YORK — Business leaders from across New York City came together at Kenneth Cole’s Chelsea headquarters on Tuesday morning to kick-off the inaugural Wellbeing at Work Day, a citywide initiative aimed at changing the culture around mental wellness at work.
“I believe that the mental health crisis is both the oldest and the newest pandemic,” Cole added. “One in four people will deal with a mental health condition during their lives, which is safe to say that we all know someone in our family, community or workplace that will be affected. So, we are all in some way struggling with this crisis. What makes it so overwhelming is that two-thirds of those who suffer, do so in the proverbial shadows because they don’t have access to resources, and they don’t have the tools to address their struggles.”
The fashion designer and founder of The Mental Health Coalition added that anxiety and depression are the leading causes of absenteeism in the workplace. What’s more, Cole noted that 12 billion workdays, and more than $1 trillion, are lost every year because of mental health complications.
As such, Cole and organizations like One Mind at Work, NAMI, Mental Health America and the American Psychiatric Association Foundation have come together to launch the new awareness day.
Through this initiative, businesses and employers are encouraged to take the Wellbeing at Work Pledge, a commitment to create a supportive workplace for mental health. Included with that commitment, business leaders are asked to institute best practices for mental health in the workplace, as recommended by One Mind at Work, an expert on workplace mental health.
Going forward, these leaders will honor the first Tuesday of December every year as the official Wellbeing at Work Day.
“What makes this initiative so meaningful is that the workplace is the only place where traditional, operational resources — human, administrative and financial — can be efficiently leveraged to transform the health and well-being of large populations and their families,” Cole said. “If we all do this together, we will change culture.”
Emceed by Katie Couric, Cole enlisted New York City Mayor Eric Adams, the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan, Dr. Deepak Chopra and singer and songwriter Em Beihold to help unveil the new initiative at Tuesday’s event.
Couric, who opened the event with her remarks, praised the awareness day for helping to end the stigma of mental health in the workplace.
As for Adams, he spoke about his own mental health journey while highlighting all that the city is doing to help its citizens.
“I remember sitting in my kitchen after 22 years in law enforcement and my son asking me if I was OK,” Adams recalled. “And I remember the tears running down my face. Because the reality of the fast pace of policing and being part of an organization like the police department, and never really taking a moment to reflect on the dangerous moments we encounter was overwhelming. And coming to the realization that I was broken in so many places, so many pieces, and self-medicating myself with things and items of different forms. But the reality was that I needed help.
“That help often eludes us, especially in communities of color where we’re taught to ‘suck it up,’” Adams added. “Any sign of saying you need help was a sign of weakness, and we could not afford to display weakness. But as I sat there with my son, I realized I wanted to see him walk down the aisle, I wanted to play with my grandchildren, I wanted to see him buy his first home and graduate from college. This became my motivator that I need to make sure I put the pieces together.”
The mayor added that New Yorkers are living through “unprecedented change and overwhelming challenges,” in large part due to a mental health crisis.
“The impact of mental health on corporate morale is undeniable, and by partnering with business leaders across New York City to prioritize well-being at work, we can inspire a genuine culture shift and challenge the status quo,” Adams said.