Narrator: Coming up on Mayo Clinic Q&A,
Dr. Greg Couser: We also receive our identity from our work. And
so, when we don't have that sort of daily contact with our
colleagues that shifts our identity just a little bit.
Narrator: During the height of the pandemic, many people were
forced to find new ways to work. And while some are heading back
to the office, many companies are allowing or even asking
their employees to work from home. That can mean learning new
skills, like how to stay in touch with colleagues and
keeping family life in balance.
Dr. Greg Couser: Part of this would mean your family needs to
know there are times you probably shouldn't be disturbed
or can't be disturbed. Your work also needs to know that there
are times you need to turn off work and not be available to
them so you can be fully present for people at home.
Dr. Halena Gazelka: Welcome, everyone to Mayo Clinic Q&A. I'm
Dr. Halena Gazelka. The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the way
that people work. As vaccination rates increase, some people are
returning to the office, but many companies have opted to
keep their employees working from home permanently. This
change has both positive and negative side-effects, including
the mental health aspects of working from home. With me today
to discuss this is psychiatrist and occupational medicine
specialist. Dr. Greg Couser. Thanks for being here today,
Greg.
Dr. Greg Couser: My pleasure. Thank you.
Dr. Halena Gazelka: I think this is such a fascinating topic,
because we have really changed a lot in the last year with COVID.
And only part of it is working from home. But there are so many
mental health aspects of COVID. It's amazing. Tell us about
teleworking. What are the changes for individuals from a
psychological perspective?
Dr. Greg Couser: I think the main part that you just said
there was changes. Anytime there's changes, it can be
challenging for people, particularly when you're not
used to working from home, I think there's a big issue for
people of setting up good boundaries between work and
home. So, that's a big challenge. And we also receive
our identity from our work. And so, when we don't have that sort
of daily contact with our colleagues, that shifts our
identity just a little bit.
Dr. Halena Gazelka: That's interesting. What do you mean
by boundaries between work and home?
Dr. Greg Couser: Well, I mean, normally, we have a very real
physical boundary between work and home because we leave home,
and we go to a certain place and we work. And when you work from
home, you know, some people are working from their living room
or they don't necessarily have the best office setup, and they
don't necessarily leave or even change their clothes.
Dr. Halena Gazelka: What are some of the ways that COVID-19
has emotionally impacted workers who are now working remotely?
Dr. Greg Couser: Well, this is something that's mixed. In some
ways, it's been better for those to be at home because they're
able to stay closer to their family. So, there's some
advantages there. But there are also some disadvantages. And
part of the downside of that was we're always talking about the
boundaries between work and home. People get a lot of
identity from their work, and they want to be around other
people. And some people have lost that sense of direct
contact with people, or they can feel disengaged with the
workplace. And at the same time, of course, because there's been
lots of changes, they might be struggling with how to keep up
with new policies and procedures and that sort of thing.
Dr. Halena Gazelka: Well, that makes sense. It seems to be at
least somewhat personality driven. When I inquire of some
of our workers who have gone to work at home, some of them
absolutely love it, feel they are more productive than they
have ever been in their lives and others, oh, they just really
aren't enjoying it and wish that they could come back to the
office.
Dr. Greg Couser: Yeah, that's absolutely right. That's what I
see too. It depends a lot on what our individual personality
style and preferences are. And I've seen a lot, I tend to be
more of an introvert, and I liked some of the changes.
Although I, I love my colleagues too, so I love being there. I
noticed that some introverts are mourning the return to meeting
in person, or as those who are more extroverted, they may
prefer to work on site, and they can't wait till they're able to
do so.
Dr. Halena Gazelka: For those workers who don't have the
option and wish to stay more connected, what are some
opportunities that they can take or tips that you can give for
staying connected in spite of being remote?
Dr. Greg Couser: To provide some structure, just like you would
in the normal workplace. So, scheduling times to work, even
if you're working from home, there may be times that you
schedule to meet in person and if that's not possible or
feasible, then at least trying to schedule some maybe virtual
coffee breaks, where you are able to get away and talk to
people. And this is a time where supervisors are really
struggling too. And it's important for people to get
feedback, though from their supervisors and to feel
connected to them. And so, having regular check ins can
help even if that's something that's infrequent. And we want
to leverage our technology here. Because this is where Zoom can
be helpful. And when people understand that they do have
other people that are still working with them on their team.
And even if it's remotely when they know they're in it
together, it doesn't have to seem so bad. And I also, I
guess, would advocate for teams doing their own brainstorming
about what those challenges are. Because most of the time people
have their own best ideas about how to stay connected.
Dr. Halena Gazelka: I like what you said about coffee breaks,
we've tried some of those in our department and it's actually
been quite fun to meet and actually talk about, oh, to get
to know each other personally, instead of just to talk as we do
at meetings. Also, yesterday, we had the opportunity to do a Zoom
Father's Day party for my husband with his adult children
from Florida. And you know, you kind of think, well it's not the
same as being in person, but it sure is an improvement over
talking on the phone or texting.
Dr. Greg Couser: For sure it is yeah.
Dr. Halena Gazelka: So, a lot of fun. How can people tell if they
are feeling sad or if they're just suffering from depression?
What's the difference?
Dr. Greg Couser: That's a good question. Well, all of us are
going to feel sad sometimes. And so, just the sadness by itself
doesn't necessarily mean that you're depressed. And what I
look at is other things going along with that, and sort of the
length of time. So, if this is something that's pervasive that
the mood is low and continues to be low and doesn't seem to get
up for things that would normally excite us, and it goes
on for more than a couple of weeks, then I would be more
worried. And oftentimes, when we're talking about something
that's clinical, there are some physical manifestations to that
too, like our sleep is disturbed, our appetite is going
up or down. And there can be some other symptoms associated
with that, self -, poor energy, poor concentration. And so, if
you start to see a constellation of things like that, that's
pervasive, then it's probably more than just being sad.
Dr. Halena Gazelka: And I think that one of the things that I
thought about Greg, is that it seems that emotional health is
only part of what plays into this being at home. There are
other aspects to health and wellness that are affected by
staying inside of our homes so much. What advice would you give
about those topics?
Dr. Greg Couser: So, yeah, that's a great question. And
there's lots of things I could potentially talk about along
that line. One of the things though, that I guess we have to
emind ourselves, and I see a ot of physicians and nurses in
y practice. And so, these are eople who are well educated
bout health topics, yet they d n't often necessarily follow t
eir own advice about simple t ings like eating, sleeping and m
ving well. And so, I always t ll people as a fallback, take a
look at that stuff. Try to g t on a schedule, plan for your d
y, you know, including what y u're going to wear, and your
eals, and scheduled time for exercise breaks. And recognizing
sometimes people don't exercise because they think it's going to
take away from productivity, where actually, that could be
something that ultimately ends up bolstering productivity. I
think I mentioned before setting good boundaries between work and
home. So, part of this would mean like your family needs to
Dr. Halena Gazelka: You know, you talked a little earlier Greg
know, there are times you probably shouldn't be disturbed
or can't be disturbed. And your work also needs to know that
there are times you need to turn off work, and not be available
to them so you can be fully present for people at home. Par
of this has to do with tec nology too. It seems like we'
e always connected to our pho es and computers. And ste
ping away is a good part of kee ing that balance. You can tur
off those email not fication pop-ups like the one
I just had a little bit ago. I obably should do that bec
use that would be helpful as wel . If you could have a sep
rate workspace that's hel ful. Set a schedule, just lik
you would at work and try to tick to that. And if pos
ible, if you can schedule in any of those wellness activities I w
s talking about during the day that can be helpful as well.
about sadness and depression. But anxiety seems to be a big
issue. COVID is, as you said earlier, it's a season of
change. And that's about what we can count on is that things are
changing constantly. And that can be very anxiety provoking.
How do you recommend that individuals begin to start
working on their mental health symptoms or handling them?
Dr. Greg Couser: Well, I think part of this is I spend a lot of
time normalizing things for people, because we're all
adjusting to things, it's normal to feel awkward when we're out
of our routine. And change is difficult for everyone. So, a
lot of my work is normalization, and telling people to practice
self-compassion. So, and we all have, you were asking about the
difference between depression and sadness. We all have
sadness at times, and we mourn things that are that are
different, and that is completely normal. But we don't
necessarily talk about it. And so, people don't realize
necessarily that it's normal. I look at these mental health
symptoms, just like I would look at any other physical issue or
medical problem. So, if I have hypertension, or diabetes, or
whatever the medical problem is, I would still need to take
responsibility for that, just like I would if I really did
have a mental health issue that that needed attention. And it
takes courage to seek help. And when you do seek help, you
actually get better. And so, kind of along that line too,
just making sure that you start with the basics, like eating,
sleeping and moving well, recognizing that if you learn
how to handle symptoms, that makes us stronger, and then we
can feel like we can overcome more in our lives. And kind of
the last thing here is we may be lonelier, and unfortunately, a
lot of us are lonely, and that's getting exacerbated by the
pandemic, and we're not talking about it as much. So, it really
is important. We are social creatures, even us introverts
like me, we're social creatures, we need to be around people
sometimes and have some fun too, and get out and see some people.
Dr. Halena Gazelka: Excellent advice. If our listeners are
concerned about their mental health, what should they do?
What kind of resources are there, and who should they asked
for help?
Dr. Greg Couser: Yeah, that's a good question too. And it's
difficult to tell dependent upon audience too. So, you really
should know what your local resources are. So, at Mayo
Clinic, for instance, we have a homepage where people can find
that, you know, talking to your care providers, which is usually
where care would start, if things are more than just a
little bit of sadness, that's a good place to go. But if you're
looking for some more generic sorts of resources, take a look
at some of the major organizations that deal with
mental health all the time, like the American Psychiatric
Association, or American Psychological Association.
There's the National Alliance on Mental illness. There's a
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration,
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Those are just a
few that all have websites. And I would certainly go by word of
mouth.
Dr. Halena Gazelka: That's very helpful. Thank you. Anything
else? Last Words of wisdom for our listeners today, Greg?
Dr. Greg Couser: I think I just want to reiterate the part about
practicing self-compassion. It's not easy to be a human being
sometimes, especially with all the change that we have, and to
have a sense of humor and go about your day to day and try to
realize that we're all in this together.
Dr. Halena Gazelka: I think that's a great point. And I
think we can find such joy when we find others that we can share
our experiences with. So, maybe those work coffee breaks are a
good place to start. Sounds good. Thanks for being here
today, Greg.
Dr. Greg Couser: Thank you. Appreciate it very much. Thanks.
Dr. Halena Gazelka: Our thanks to Mayo Clinic psychiatrist, Dr.
Greg Couser, for being here today and speaking with us about
mental health while working remotely. I hope that you
learned something. I know that I did. We wish each of you a
wonderful day.
Narrator: Mayo Clinic Q&A is a production of the Mayo Clinic
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