Taking care of mental health at work means talking openly about stress, illness and bad days instead of hiding them. When one person breaks the silence, others can follow. According to an EU report from 2018, one in six people in the EU had a mental health problem, so every team has people who are affected.
Key Takeaways
- Talking openly about mental illness at work makes it easier for others to speak up: as soon as Sophie Küster shared her story at cronn, colleagues began confiding their own stories to her.
- According to the State of Health in the EU report for 2018, 17 percent of the EU population had a mental health problem, which means mental illness is statistically present in every team.
- Naming a bad day openly instead of covering it up protects the team from misreading the situation and makes it easier to treat each other with care.
- When you first suspect a mental illness, the first step is to talk, whether to someone you trust, a helpline or a professional, and shame shouldn’t stop you.
- IT jobs tend to encourage strong perfectionism, which, according to Sophie Küster, wears down mental health in particular when combined with a heavy workload and family obligations.
Mental Illness at Work Is More Common Than the Silence Suggests
In 2018, 17 percent of the EU population had a problem with their mental health, according to the State of Health in the EU report. Scale that down to an average IT team and the topic is already sitting at the table. It’s just that nobody talks about it.
Sophie Küster, test automation engineer at cronn in Bonn, lived with exactly that gap. In her private life, she talked openly about depression, anxiety disorders and an eating disorder. At work, she stayed quiet. She received her diagnoses at 22, while studying math. It took time for things to settle down again, and that time left a mark on her CV.
That CV was her first point of friction with the working world. You can’t explain a gap if you stay silent about its cause. The cover letter turns into a game of hide-and-seek, the job interview into an exercise in evasion.
Why a CV Gap Becomes a Trap When You Can’t Talk About It
A period of illness leaves breaks in a career that look like laziness or failure without context. That’s the core problem for people affected by mental illness on the job market.
In her job interview, Sophie talked around the truth and described instead how difficult her studies had been to organize. She got the job anyway. The next day, her new boss called back and asked directly why her degree had taken so long.
She told him about the eating disorder but left out the rest. Her reasoning: to outsiders, an eating disorder might sound like something you grow out of, not something that comes back under stress. Half the truth felt safer than the whole of it.
Many people know this calculation. You weigh which part of your story still sounds acceptable to someone unfamiliar with the subject. That takes energy, and it keeps the shame alive.
Coming Clean: A Conference Talk as a Turning Point
The silence broke at a conference. At Agile Testing Days, Sophie heard a talk about burnout that moved her deeply. Afterward, she asked the speaker how he had explained his absence from work to his boss. His answer: he had told the truth.
Her first day back at the office brought a performance review. Tired and a little giddy from the conference buzz, she decided to tell her boss the whole story. She has talked about it ever since.
The next step followed naturally: she announced that she would give a talk herself the following year. The first time, she didn’t dare. The year after, she did. She gave her talk for the first time in 2020, and her story has been public ever since.
Openness Pulls Others into the Conversation
Speaking openly about a taboo topic gives others permission to do the same. That is the strongest effect Sophie has seen around her.
It quickly became clear that she wasn’t the only one in the office. A colleague came up to her: he also had a story he never talked about and didn’t know where to start. Because she had been so open, he felt able to confide in her. Shortly afterward, he told the same story to other colleagues over lunch. A secret turned into a non-issue, in the best sense.
“I’m fed up with being ashamed of it. It’s something I can’t help, something that simply happened to me, and it really shouldn’t be a secret.”
(Sophie Küster)
At a EuroSTAR conference in Copenhagen, her talk won the attendee vote and was repeated on the last day in a redo session, in front of around 300 people. During the talk, she could hardly look anywhere without seeing someone with tears in their eyes. She spent the afternoon talking with people about their own stories.
Why IT Is a Risky Field for Mental Health
Testing and development teams work under heavy pressure, often combined with family obligations and demanding hobbies. On top of that comes a widespread perfectionism that pulls at every area of life.
That mix is no foundation for emotional stability, and yet there is rarely room to talk about it. Agile teams talk a lot about communication and collaboration, but the personal level is usually left out. A beer after work is no substitute for a real conversation about how someone is doing.
The silence has direct consequences for teamwork. If you cover up a bad day and fall behind on your workload, you risk coming across as grumpy or lazy. If the same person says openly that today is a bad day and they’ll be back to normal tomorrow, the team knows where things stand. Then people can be more considerate with each other.
How to Start Talking About Your Mental Health
Where to start depends on where you are right now. Sophie distinguishes between the first suspicion and the later everyday reality of living with the topic.
If you suspect for the first time that there might be more behind your sadness, the first step is always to talk. It doesn’t matter to whom.
- To someone close to you in your personal life.
- To a helpline, if there is no one you want to confide in.
- To a professional, meaning a therapist.
Don’t let shame keep you from getting help.
If you’re more stable already but unsure how to bring it up day to day, a simple approach helps: there are like-minded people everywhere, people who understand. Reach out to someone you know is open about a taboo topic themselves. In Sophie’s experience, people like that almost always have an open ear.
Charging ahead and revealing everything at once isn’t the right way for everyone. Most people approach it more carefully, and that’s perfectly fine.
A Team Culture Where Therapy Isn’t Taboo
Over time, openness changes a team’s culture, and noticeably so. Sophie sees deeper conversations and a closer bond with her nearest colleagues.
Some of it has even become a running joke. In her talk, she describes how freeing it is to simply say at the office that you’re popping out for therapy, instead of making up an excuse every time. One colleague picked up her phrasing and now announces his own therapy sessions in the same tone. Cover stories gave way to normal life.
That’s the real gain: when mental health is an acceptable topic of conversation, people treat each other with more care. They bring someone a snack from the kitchen, they make allowances on a difficult day, they don’t jump to reading behavior as a character flaw. That doesn’t make teams softer. It makes them more reliable.
Frequently Asked Questions
Statistically, how many people on a team are affected by mental health issues?
The State of Health in the EU Report for 2018 found that 17 percent of the EU population had a mental health issue, that is, about one in six people. Extrapolated to an average IT team, this means that people affected by mental health issues are sitting right there at the table. But since no one usually talks about it, the issue remains invisible.
Why does a resume that includes a period of illness become a problem?
Without context, gaps in one’s career history can look like laziness or failure. If you remain silent about the cause, you can’t explain the gap: the cover letter becomes a game of hide-and-seek, and the job interview an exercise in evasion. This process of weighing which part of your own story sounds just barely tolerable to an uninformed interviewer takes energy and keeps the shame alive.
Do you have to disclose all diagnoses in a job interview?
No, many people only disclose part of it. In her interview, Sophie Küster initially spoke of organizational difficulties during her studies. It wasn’t until her boss asked directly the day after she was hired that she told him about her eating disorder. She left out her depression and anxiety disorder because an eating disorder sounded like something you grow out of. Telling only half the truth felt safer.
What factors put particular strain on mental health in testing and development teams?
A heavy workload often clashes with family obligations and energy-intensive hobbies. Added to this is a perfectionism that’s common in IT professions, which takes a toll on all areas of life. This combination isn’t a good foundation for emotional stability. In agile teams, there’s a lot of talk about communication and collaboration, but the personal level is often left out. A beer in the evening is no substitute for a real conversation.
What are the benefits of openly acknowledging a bad day within the team?
It prevents misinterpretations. Someone who tries to hide that they’re having a bad day and can’t keep up with their workload can easily come across as grumpy or lazy. If that same person openly says that today is a bad day and they’ll be back to their usual self tomorrow, the team knows where they stand. Then everyone can be more considerate toward one another without interpreting behavior as a character flaw.
What’s the first step if you suspect a mental health issue?
Talk to someone, anyone. Options include a trusted person in your personal circle, a helpline if there’s no one you can confide in, or seeking therapeutic help directly. Don’t let shame stop you from seeking help. This early phase differs from later daily life, which is more about discussing the issue in the workplace.
Who among your coworkers can you confide in first?
Most likely someone you know who is open about discussing taboo topics themselves. In Sophie Küster’s experience, such people almost always have an open ear, and there are like-minded people everywhere. The approach of revealing everything at once doesn’t work for everyone. Most people take a more cautious, gradual approach, and that’s perfectly fine.
Does openness about mental health issues actually change the team culture?
Yes, noticeably. After Sophie Küster spoke openly at cronn, a colleague confided his own story to her and shared it with other colleagues over lunch shortly afterward. Another colleague adopted her phrasing and announced his therapy sessions in the same tone. What had been a secret became the norm, and the conversations among her closest colleagues grew deeper.
