What every healthcare leader needs to know about workplace stressWhat every healthcare leader needs to know about workplace stress

The global conversation on mental health has matured over the years, yet there remains much ground to be covered, particularly among corporate leaderships, which represent the most crucial audience in this space. Depression and anxiety, the world’s most prevalent mental health concerns, have become quiet productivity killers across industries, including in the UAE.

“If you are depressed, you are unable to be the most productive version of yourself,” says Rico Idris, psychologist at the German Neuroscience Center. “Besides low mood, depression often means low energy, sleeping problems, impaired memory and cognitive functioning, all of which affect performance. And performing less at work can make someone feel even worse about themselves.”

Anxiety manifests differently but is equally corrosive. “Avoidance is one of the most common behaviours we see,” Idris adds. “People with social anxiety might avoid speaking out during meetings because they fear negative judgement. Over time, that erodes confidence, creativity and collaboration.”

The brain on burnout

From a neuroscientific standpoint, chronic stress doesn’t just affect morale, it rewires the brain. Dr Doerthe Schiess, consultant neurologist at the German Neuroscience Center, explains: “Chronic workplace stress reshapes brain function by upregulating cortisol. The amygdala, which is the brain’s threat detector, becomes hyper-reactive, while the prefrontal cortex, which manages planning, attention and impulse control, downregulates.”

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The result is poorer memory, slower decision-making, more mistakes, presenteeism, withdrawal and burnout. “The hippocampus, which handles memory, is particularly sensitive to prolonged cortisol exposure,” she notes. “Early detection and intervention can interrupt this cascade and preserve productivity.”

From reactive to preventive cultures

Many organisations still respond to mental health issues reactively, offering crisis support or workshops once problems emerge. Idris argues for a mindset shift. “A healthy company culture is only possible if the leadership truly cares about employee wellbeing. This isn’t something HR can fix alone.”

Proactive wellbeing, he says, begins with leadership accountability. “If leaders speak openly about their own challenges, leading by example, it signals safety. Pair that with a robust Employee Assistance Programme that allows employees to access external clinical support, and you’re building genuine psychological safety.”

Mental health as an economic lever

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Corporate wellness budgets often tilt heavily towards physical health and often include gym memberships, nutrition apps, biometric screenings, while neglecting mental health. Yet research consistently shows the ROI of mental health investment is among the highest in any wellness category. “Understanding that mental health challenges can have a significant negative effect on performance should be enough motivation,” Idris says. “A happy, healthy employee will always perform better than an unhappy, unhealthy one. If leadership needs convincing, that’s already a problem.”

Dr Schiess agrees that metrics matter, but so does nuance. “Companies can go beyond absenteeism data,” she says. “Presenteeism measures, supervisor-rated performance, turnover rates, satisfaction surveys, even error and safety incident data, all reflect cognitive and emotional health.”

The World Health Organization has also corroborated this fact in one of their research reports, which notes, for every $1 invested in workplace mental health, organisations gain $4 in productivity and retention. 

Beware the quick fix

The surge of interest in neurofeedback and cognitive-behavioural therapies signals that businesses are paying attention to neuroscience, but Dr Schiess warns against oversimplification.

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“These are individual therapies with different outcomes,” she explains. “They require time, qualified practitioners and realistic expectations. More importantly, don’t use neurotech to fix what’s essentially a management problem. If workloads are unsustainable, no headset or app will compensate.”

 Dr Schiess also warns that overmedicalising burnout risks masks poor leadership or unrealistic workloads. Organisational change must precede neuro-intervention.

Building the business case for care

Ultimately, the case for corporate mental health isn’t just ethical, it’s empirical. The science of stress demonstrates that protecting employee wellbeing is protecting cognitive capital.

“A healthy company culture is only possible if leadership cares about its people. If they don’t, employees will feel that, and they will leave,” notes Idris. 

And as neuroscience reminds us, every act of care, every moment of rest, support or empathy, is not just good management, it’s brain, in fact, protection in action.

Why stress deserves boardroom attention

• Elevated cortisol sensitises the amygdala, which leads to faster anxiety/anger response

• Reduced prefrontal regulation affects focus, impulse control, emotion regulation

• Impaired hippocampal function leads to weaker memory encoding and recall

• Connectivity shifts causes weaker executive control, stronger rumination 

How corporates can walk the talk

• Encourage leaders to share personal wellbeing stories.

• Provide confidential, third-party counselling options.

• Integrate wellbeing KPIs into leadership performance reviews.

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