Does Mental Health Scare Managers?

Does mental health mean the same thing for everybody?

Mental health has become a central topic in organizations. It appears in HR strategies, employer branding, well-being programs, engagement surveys. Yet, on the ground, especially for frontline managers, the situation remains uncomfortable. Managers are asked to notice, prevent, and support. But what exactly are they supposed to detect?

Unlike physical health, where diagnosis is measurable, mental health in the everyday sense—fatigue, anxiety, disconnection, emotional flattening—remains subjective and invisible. The phenomenon now known as quiet cracking captures this well: the internal strain of someone who is still functioning externally, yet slowly breaking inside. The manager senses something without knowing what to call it. And without the right words, intervention becomes guesswork.

The Limits of the Mental Health Discourse

Organizations assume mental health is a clear, clinical category. It is not. The boundary between normal stress and pathological exhaustion is blurry. The language of diagnosis belongs to psychology and psychiatry—not management. When managers try to compensate for this lack of clarity, two risks appear:

• trivialization ("They just need to try harder"),

• or over-pathologization ("They must be burning out").

Both are harmful. The manager is caught between care and performance.Between empathy and operational pressure.

Implications for Organizations

Executives often see mental health initiatives as strategic levers:lower absenteeism, stronger engagement, employer attractiveness. However, the workplace is not neutral. Power dynamics exist, and sometimes mental health becomes a tactical resource:to request adjustments,avoid evaluation, or influence internal negotiations. This requires lucidity more than suspicion. The manager’s responsibility is not to diagnose or treat. Their responsibility is to ensure working conditions are sustainable.

Recommendations

A manager can legitimately:

• Clarify expectations and priorities

• Hold structured weekly check-ins

• Describe observations without interpreting them

• Refer to HR or occupational health services

• Maintain a culture where speaking is allowed

This is not therapy. This is professional care. The question is not whether mental health matters. It does. The question is: How do we build teams where people can perform without breaking?