THE REAL WORK OF MENTAL HEALTH IN AGENCIES
- Steven Mervis
Mental Health Month ends today, but the topic shouldn’t.
Because if we only talk about mental health when the calendar tells us to, we’ve already missed the point.
Agencies know how to build campaigns. What we’re still learning is how to build care. Awareness is easy; consistency takes work. The real question is how we keep showing up for people when the calendar flips.
The Industry Truth – Our work asks for intensity.
Agency life moves fast. Tight deadlines, demanding clients, constant creative stretch. That’s part of the deal, and most of us love it. But loving the work doesn’t cancel out what it takes from you.
The problem isn’t the pressure, it’s when there’s no space to recover from it. Exhaustion often gets mistaken for dedication. But fatigue doesn’t prove passion; it drains it. If the job draws deeply from people’s energy and emotion, then we have a duty to help refill the tank – with structure, empathy, and balance that’s built in, not bolted on.
Mental health can’t sit in policy documents; it has to live in how we lead.
That means designing systems where honesty feels safe. Training managers to listen, not just manage. Building flexibility that respects people’s lives outside the brief.
It’s not softness, it’s structure. The same way we plan projects and budgets, we can plan for sustainability. People’s emotional energy is part of our operating system, and when it runs low, everything else follows.
The Responsibility – Leadership sets the tone
Culture starts at the top. If leaders treat long hours as a badge of honour, that becomes the rule. If they talk openly about boundaries and balance, that becomes the norm.
People don’t need flawless leaders; they need real ones. Leaders who notice when someone’s off. Who create space for honesty without judgment. Who understand that care isn’t a nice-to-have – it’s how trust gets built.
The Result – Humanity pays dividends. When people feel supported, they show up differently. They think braver, collaborate better, stay longer. The work gets stronger because the people behind it do.
So yes, mental health care is good for business, but that’s not why it matters. It matters because the work we do is human, and so are we.
The Choice – Who we choose to be. Every agency has a choice. We can chase output at any cost, or build places that bring people back to life.
Mental health isn’t a campaign, it’s part of the culture we create every day. And if we get that right, we don’t just make better work, we make better people, and better places to do it in.