The mental health of politicians

Abstract

This article considers why mental health is important in our workplaces, including elected political positions on which the effective functioning of our democracy depends. It looks at the job of the politician and its particular challenges, and argues there is a need to ensure that working conditions for all occupations are positive, and why we need to include our elected representatives. The potential consequences for the effective functioning of democracy are also explored and reflections given on where we should we go from here. A recent UK government mantra “No health without mental health” means that some politicians are starting to recognize the value of our psychological well-being as much as that of our physical health—although we might argue this still is nowhere near enough. There seems a long way to go before the reality—and the funding—matches our hopes. Sure enough we all take responsibility for our well-being, but the psychological impact of our working and social environments is well known and governments ignoring this important aspect of our health and functioning in their policies on health and work risk compromising their nation’s competitiveness. Perhaps it does not help that as citizens we can be sceptical of the role of our politicians in making important decisions that shape the world in which we live, yet if we turn away from scrutinizing their behaviour we risk compounding the issue and compromising our own well-being too.