Entrepreneurs, CEOs seek professional help to cope with Covid-19 stress

NEW DELHI / MUMBAI: Migrant labourers – jobless and far away from home – might be the ones struggling the most to cope with the Covid-19 lockdown, but many business leaders and entrepreneurs are seeking professional help to beat the stress and anxiety induced by the pandemic.

Mental wellbeing experts at institutions such as Fortis Healthcare, Optum International, 1to1 Help.net, and CIMBS are being flooded with distress calls from entrepreneurs and CXOs of small, medium and large enterprises, officials said.

“This is the most difficult time for leaders across all domains,” said Samir Parikh, a psychiatrist at Fortis Healthcare who has seen a sharp jump in the number of calls from leaders over the last week. “No leader before has been in this stressful situation.”

The leaders not only have to manage their firms in lockdown but also meet expectations of employees who are juggling between work and home.

Cosmos Institute of Mental Health and Behavioural Sciences (CIMBS) said it received at least 50 calls from entrepreneurs and CEOs/CXOs of small, medium and large enterprises in the last 15 days against the normal average of just a couple of calls in a month, while Optum International said the number of calls from honchos has jumped 3X over the last two weeks.

Covid–19 is an unprecedented event that is leaving a deep impact on the overall mental health across all levels of employees. Uncertainty and lack of control have given rise to high levels of anxiety, sometimes leading to panic attacks, mental health experts said.

Besides coping with the anxiety of business continuity planning (BCP), business leaders have to manage their employees as well as their own families.

“There is just too much on the plate for the entrepreneurs or CEOs who feel responsible for not only the company’s future but for each and every employee, ” said Sunil Mittal, senior psychiatrist at CIMBS.

On requests from companies, mental health experts and institutions such as Parikh of Fortis, Optum and CIMBS are starting online sessions for senior leadership to help maintain mental wellbeing in this uncertain phase.

1to1 help has seen a considerable rise in Covid-19 related calls that include people feeling anxious, getting panic attacks, feeling overwhelmed with work from home and job anxieties, its founder Archana Bisht said.

Many CEOs are also seeking help for their employees. “Employee assistance programme (EAP) has seen an influx of requests from senior leadership at our client’s end with requests to extend psychological interventions for their employee base,” said Amber Alam, director-EAP and Wellness Services (Asia Pacific) at Optum.