Death, depression, and denial

THIS is the story of Leonard (let's just call him that), a good-natured employee at a rather significant organisation in Singapore.

By accounts heard on the street, Leonard excelled at his job, but had been plagued by uncertainty over his next job posting after a few years of a relentlessly hard slog.

It's said that the major organisation at which he worked is a tough, trying outfit, with whispers of a toxic environment that sometimes included verbal abuse. It's said that the gospel of exceptionalism is preached there.

Leonard told friends that working under such volatile conditions led to his eventual diagnosis of depression. He asked a few times for unpaid leave to get the rest he needed for a proper treatment, but the requests were rejected. The organisation was understaffed, he was told.

A surprise and difficult job posting, said to be offered at the eleventh hour, plunged Leonard to new lows.

He later got the unpaid leave he had requested because he appeared to show signs of cracking under his mental illness.

But a few months into his unpaid leave, Leonard killed himself while abroad.

Leonard's colleagues grieved. And the grief was mixed with disappointment over the lack of empathy from upper management in the days that followed Leonard's death.

Certain funeral arrangements that would have typically been made by this organisation for staff were not carried out for Leonard, despite him still being part of the organisation. One view was that this organisation was putting deliberate distance between itself and its staff.

The feeble attempt at comforting words from the organisation's leaders apparently came down to describing the toughness of the job, and that the work just wasn't suitable for all.

Little effort was also made in acknowledging mental disorder for what it is - a real medical condition that has affected one in seven people in Singapore. Depression is the most common mental disorder here, data from Singapore's Institute of Mental Health showed, with its causes complex and going far beyond a lack of mental toughness.

The attitude is in line with the heavy stigma over mental illness in Singapore. Six in 10 people here said they believe that mental health conditions are due to a lack of self-discipline and will power, a survey out in September last year showed.

Half believe that those with mental health conditions should not be given any responsibility, according to the poll by the National Council of Social Service.

Meanwhile, a dominant defence of the upper management of this organisation succumbed to a defeatist view. That the organisation is beyond change. That it is how it is.

Some of Leonard's colleagues were thus left to heal in their quiet corner, some turning disillusioned with what they've accomplished at the organisation, and what else they should hold on to in their time with this particular employer.

The tragedy is that in these modern times, we can allow individuals to be so easily erased, blotted out of a cold organisation chart. A successful organisation is, after all, a living thing, the greater sum of individuals with character, well-rounded intellect, and diverse views.

And sure, we don't want to breed employees with a snowflake syndrome, but that is hardly an excuse for abusive and callous treatment of staff from Singapore's so-dubbed elites.

While it is harder to say where the responsibility of employers begins and ends when it comes to the mental well-being of staff, it is increasingly clear that the organisation should be equipping staff with the tools and support to help them regain their health.

Companies can do better, as a viral tweet in 2017 showed. A US web developer Madalyn Rose Parker made public an email exchange with her big boss at software company Olark on taking time off to take care of her mental health.

Olark's CEO Ben Congleton wrote back, thanking Ms Parker for sending emails that open up conversations on mental health. Mr Congleton followed up with a blogpost on Medium, noting that Ms Parker's email reflected courage over a topic that remains controversial today.

"There were so many stories of people wishing they worked at a place where their CEO cared about their health, and so many people congratulating me on doing such a good thing. This should be business as usual," he wrote.

"We are in a knowledge economy. Our jobs require us to execute at peak mental performance. When an athlete is injured, they sit on the bench and recover. Let's get rid of the idea that somehow the brain is different."

It's not all clear how Singapore companies fare when it comes to dealing with mental health in the office. Some - including BT's publisher Singapore Press Holdings - offer a free helpline so staff can speak with trained counsellors with the promise that names would not be disclosed to their supervisors.

But surely more can be done in Singapore so mental illness is not treated as a dirty secret by society, and at the workplace.

An organisation's culture is alive. It is breathed into a brand, an office space, the bottom line. It doesn't stay static, and it doesn't excuse bad behaviour.

The Information Age brings new uncertainty to the demand of jobs. But organisations seeking an adaptive workforce at a time of immense change should not have the pressure show up at the expense of our humanity.

To excel in these times, all the more we should protect what makes up a thriving organisation: people. And with that, basic decency.

If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts or in emotional distress, call Samaritans of Singapore's 24-hour hotline on 1800-221-4444.