When many people think of public relations practitioners, they imagine the “spin doctors” of yesteryear, freely wheeling and dealing with wartime propaganda and other yellow-journalism-esque topics. Of course, if you are a PR pro, it can be challenging to continuously define the profession in a constantly changing, emerging media and technology landscape. We each have our elevator pitches, and I commonly tell people that I tell stories and build reputations for a living. That is true, but it’s so much more.
What people do not realize is that we have a seat at the table for some of our organizations’ most critical decisions, and thus, we need to communicate about them. The Public Relations Society of America’s Code of Ethics mentions that we are the conscience of our organizations through advocacy, honesty, expertise, independence, loyalty, and fairness.
No matter our job role or industry, we often find ourselves communicating before, during, and after a crisis. This could manifest as a natural disaster that has affected our community, a statement that is in response to a world event, or a needed company-wide morale boost. If we’re fortunate enough to already have a plan in place, that gives us an advantage. As we all know, however, the best-laid plans sometimes have to go all the way to Plan Z before we address all of the needs of our organization and its publics. All of this is on top of our mountains of to-do lists and responsibilities.
As communicators in any industry, it remains crucial to maintain our mental health as we disseminate both internal and external messages to our target audiences. Now, more than ever, we are inundated with tragic headlines, from the current Israel-Hamas War, the war in Ukraine, and other humanitarian crises, disasters, and heartbreaks. During the COVID-19 pandemic, communicators’ roles never ceased. We still had to meet deadlines, manage relationships and reputations, create content, and more – all while fulfilling our other duties while working from home. These roles have steadily increased since 2020, with many of us not able to take a respite.
PR pros have to relay these messages – no matter how personally challenging – during times of crisis, on top of other strategies and tactics. In 2022, PRSA-NY released its State of Mental Health in Public Relations Report in partnership with Honan Strategy Group, which revealed that 63 percent of its membership believes that PR is somewhat or more stressful compared to other industries. The report outlines the anxiety and emotional scar tissue compacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, how staff shortages have impacted the industry, non-PR issues contributing to stress, and other key factors. While several studies over the years have outlined a multitude of stressful jobs, being a PR executive ranked in the top 10 of a 2019 study from CareerCast.com. In 2015, the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) and AdWeek conducted a survey that revealed that 44 percent of respondents had been diagnosed with a mental illness.
Mental health disorder numbers keep rising, and according to Mental Health America’s State of Mental Health in America Report 2023, 21 percent of adults in America are currently experiencing a mental illness, which translates to 50 million Americans. Access is becoming a larger issue, with 28 percent of adults surveyed stating that they did not have access to needed treatment. With an average of 350 patients for every mental health provider, it has become challenging to find help when we need it. Our youth are also experiencing mental health issues, with 16 percent of youth reporting at least one major depressive episode within the past year.
It’s no secret that we have a holistic mental health crisis on our hands – and have for decades.
I often reflect on my decision to become a public relations practitioner as someone who has generalized anxiety disorder and unspecified depressive disorder. Of course, those diagnoses came later, but I couldn’t have imagined that I would be in year 14 of my career and feel the way I do now. As an always-reforming, self-aware millennial who has attempted to break the cycle and always talk about my mental health, I must confess that I often feel burned out and at times disheartened. On most days, I feel that the spark I once had will never return. I yearn for dry land because it’s as though I have been treading water for years. If I give myself grace instead of self-criticism, I realize an important truth: I have been through a lot these past three years, as all of us have. I experienced the height of the pandemic through the lens of a pregnant woman with several gestational-health-related issues while facing an uncertain world. I had a second miscarriage, changed job positions, restructured my company, started and sunsetted projects, took on leadership roles in PRSA and otherwise, began truly digging in to many of my mental health struggles… I have also been professionally communicating for more than half of my life, from high school to present day.
While our stories are all different, the themes remain the same. We are exhausted and pushed past our limitations. In essence, I am exhausted, and I feel as though no amount of sleep will relieve my symptoms. It runs deeper than I can see. I know many of us feel the same way. As International Stress Awareness Day approaches on Nov. 1, I have been reflecting on how I manage stress – and even mismanage it.
What can we continue to do to manage our stress as the consciences of our organizations and in our own leadership paths?
Maintain a feedback loop with yourself.
In an industry in which we advocate for our target audiences, organizations, and causes, we often do not provide that same support for ourselves. We must have two-way communication with our publics, but we need to keep one at the top of mind – ourselves. Establish an open and honest feedback loop with yourself. It can seem challenging, especially if you want to avoid honest conversations. We value authenticity as communicators in a world of mis- and disinformation, so we cannot tell blatant lies and half-truths to ourselves, either.
In therapy and life, I have often heard that I need to “feel how I feel” and then let it go. I encourage you to not suppress how you feel. Of course, we all have to shine our beautiful PR masks and compartmentalize to get through an event, meeting, and deadline, but that doesn't mean perpetually avoiding emotions and feelings. Be honest about how you feel, what works, what doesn’t work, and what will make you happy. This is a work in progress for me, as I have a stamp of “grin and bear it” within my Appalachian-born-and-bred DNA. As a PR practitioner, it’s so easy to hide behind my carefully crafted PR mask, not tell people how I feel, and shirk away from conflict. You end up just developing another voice in which to communicate while not giving your voice the respect it deserves.
I know we don’t want to hear this as PR practitioners, but limit your caffeine intake. Qualitatively, from my own experience, I become increasingly jittery with each passing cup of coffee. So, I have my morning and afternoon cups of coffee and end caffeine consumption by 5 p.m. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule, but I adhere to it as a general rule of thumb. Gone are the mid-20s days in which I would bring a half gallon of coffee to work. (I wish I were exaggerating, but alas, I am not.)
Make time for self-care.
Burnout is real. I am experiencing it now as the 2023 PRSA East Central District Chair, in my job roles, as a mom to a toddler, and in nearly every facet of my life. When I read Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski, Ph.D., and Amelia Nagoski, DMA, I gleaned valuable insights into my own burnout and stress cycles and how to manage them. The book and subsequent media interviews outline the components of burnout, which are emotional exhaustion, decreased sense of accomplishment, and depersonalization. As a communicator, my overwhelm turns into all three. According to the Yerkes-Dodson Law, when your stress reaches maximum levels, productivity severely declines.
PR’s always-on nature and burnout remain challenging for me. As a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), I tend to get overstimulated with sensory overload. With hundreds of weekly requests, timely conversations, top-level priorities, quick decision-making, and more, it’s easy to see why my brain feels like mush at the end of every workday. While I know I should always practice self-care, I don’t allow myself to do things to recharge. Call it FOMO (or just unadulterated fear) or avoidance – whichever term applies to the situation. The fact of the matter is this: I feel much better overall when I add some type of self-care into my daily routine.
While it’s easier said than done for those of us who identify as high achievers, asking for help takes some of the mental load away from your ever-mounting plate of tasks. While I’d love to morph into some AI form of myself and not have “human” flaws, I am very much a human – and one who wears her heart on her sleeve. Rely on colleagues and others you trust to help with a project, talk through an issue, or just sit with you when you need someone. Learn to say “no” to tasks that do not serve the bigger picture. I’ve had to learn how to think with a macro lens, as I am very detail-oriented and like to see every step of a process. While I’d love to say I’m a visionary, that is still a skill I am cultivating.
I have to force myself to walk away from my to-do list, both in the workplace and at home. I have a remote position and did even before the pandemic, so I have to quarantine from my office at the end of a work day. My brain is always on the go, so I think every part should match that. Schedule downtime, even if that means that you have to put it on your calendar. Hold yourself accountable. I’m the world’s worst at keeping my boundaries with myself. I eat the extra donut, stay up past my bedtime when I know I shouldn’t, and skip doing yoga because I’m “too busy.” Do something that allows you to recharge and address your holistic health. If I am too stressed for a long period, I experience bouts of migraines, neck and shoulder muscle tension, mood swings, and an overarching decline in fulfilling my own needs. Everything and everyone around me suffers.
Practice work-life integration.
In the PRSA-NY mental health report, 77 percent of members desired to achieve some level of “work-life balance.” I won’t sugarcoat this: I used to be an avid member of hustle culture. I am still dismantling my workaholism, as I used to work around the clock. I’d get up, go to my regular 8-to-5 job, and then come home and work more while eating an unhealthy dinner as I typed away on my MacBook. Running your own company also does not allow for any type of balance, especially if you want to grow your client base and finances. I took meetings during the day and did a lot of the actual work at night. Now, I’ve morphed Hourglass Media into a consultancy, and it’s still hard to balance everything.
Working copious hours does not make you the most efficient, best worker. While working hard at such a young age provided opportunities, productivity, and success, it still did not paint the entire picture of who I am as a professional – much less an actual human. The cons of hustle culture, according to Forbes and other sources, include the aforementioned burnout; lack of work-life balance; and increased stress, anxiety, and other mental health disorders. I am sure my affinity for working around the clock has contributed to my overall sense of burnout and overwhelm, as well as a skewed sense of work in general. Productivity and motivation are also tied to my overall sense of worth. If I have a lazy day, I still struggle with feeling like I am wasting time and will have a laundry list of tasks to complete the next day.
Combating hustle culture in a world that still celebrates and covets overwork has its consistent pitfalls, and it’s hard to reconcile every part of myself. Try as I might, I cannot separate the PR Kaylin from the Mom Kaylin, Wife Kaylin, At-Home Kaylin, Writer Kaylin, and every other version of myself. They’re integrated and form the intersectionalities that make me who I am. That is one reason I use “integration” versus “balance.” True equilibrium does not exist, as ebbs and flows exist in our lives. One week will be heavily family-focused, while another week may consist of work travel and a slew of deadlines. No week is truly the same.
Prioritize what is vital to you based on your values, goals, and commitments. As I consider taking on a new project outside of my day job, committing to a board or committee role, or even attending an event, I ask myself if it fits my larger picture. Will it detract me from my goals and what really matters in my life? Will it make me happy in the short or long term or deplete me? These considerations allow me to logically work through decisions, even when my emotions appear to be haywire. Practice time management, whatever that looks like for you. Limit the notifications on your phone and other devices, allowing only the most important ones through. Reduce your social media use and anything else that distracts you. Research new methods and try them. In fact, PRCA has an expansive mental health toolkit for PR pros. If these tools fail, then do them again or do something else that will work better. As Yoda said, “Do. Or do not. There is no try.”
While it’s frightening to lay it all out on the line, we as PR professionals have to address our stress to reflect, heal, and continue on our personal and professional journeys. I will fully admit that I am still very much on this journey and always will be; however, our mental health is too vital to continuously compartmentalize and then ignore. The work we do matters, but we matter, too. It’s time that we come out of the shadows and put our mental health in the spotlight as we do for our target audiences. The headlines, obligations, and other stressors will not go away, but we have a responsibility to take care of ourselves, one step at a time.