Beneath the Busy: Insights into Workplace Mental Health

In this powerful episode, clinical psychologist Lauren Davis sits down with representatives from SADAG (South African Depression and Anxiety Group) for an in-depth discussion on workplace mental health. They explore what poor mental health really looks like in the workplace - often masked under high-performing behavior rather than obvious signs. 
The conversation covers the overlap between burnout, anxiety, and depression, early warning signs to watch for, common workplace factors contributing to mental health challenges, and the critical role managers play in creating psychologically safe environments. SADAG shares their comprehensive corporate support services including 24/7 counseling, wellness days, and manager training programs. This episode provides both clinical insights and practical solutions for building mentally healthy workplaces, emphasizing that mental health is everyone's responsibility and support is always available through resources like SADAG's helpline.
You can access SADAG's support portal here:
https://www.sadag.org/#

And reach their support hotline here: 
Crisis helpline: 0800 567
Mental Health help line: 0800 456 789
SMS line: 31393
Thanks for listening!
If you’re ready to take this further, here are a few ways to connect or go deeper:
Free Mental Health Check-in
→ Sign up here to receive a simple yet powerful resource to combat burnout and reclaim your energy.
Join Laurens Newsletter
→ Thoughtful, grounded reflections on navigating workplace pressures, supporting mental health, and leading with impact. Sign up here.
Say hi / share a takeaway
→ Connect with Lauren on LinkedIn.
→ Message Lauren directly here.
Work with Lauren
→ See how Lauren supports senior leaders and HR professionals in building mentally healthy teams and organisations.

Burnout isn't just about being tired - it's a serious mental health condition that mimics depression, anxiety, and even PTSD. In this powerful episode originally aired on Corporate Burnouts, clinical psychologist Lauren Davis joins to reveal what happens beneath the surface of burnout and why we need to take it far more seriously than casual conversation suggests.
Lauren explains that while burnout isn't a clinical diagnosis, its symptoms mirror serious mental health conditions. She breaks down the continuum from mild exhaustion to full-blown burnout, highlighting key signs that go beyond physical fatigue - including mental depletion, inability to focus, decreased productivity, and the emotional toll that makes recovery take 2-5 years, not just a weekend.
The conversation dives into the dangerous cycle where high performers push harder when they notice declining performance, often making burnout worse. Lauren challenges the "resilience" narrative that pushes people to dig deeper and instead advocates for activating the parasympathetic nervous system through micro-pauses and genuine rest.
Key insights include:
Why burnout symptoms look like depression, anxiety, and PTSD
The difference between exhaustion (rechargeable) and depletion (not)
How performance management systems perpetuate burnout through "passion tax"
Why mental health days should be proactive, not reactive
The mindset shift: "It's just a job" and separating worth from work
The courage needed to set boundaries and sit with discomfort
Lauren offers practical strategies for prevention and recovery, emphasizing that true wellbeing requires addressing the underlying templates that connect our self-worth to professional achievement. This episode is essential listening for anyone feeling overwhelmed, overworked, or questioning why their usual strategies aren't working anymore.
Whether you're in early warning signs or deep in burnout territory, Lauren provides the clinical perspective and actionable advice needed to break the cycle and build sustainable work habits that protect your mental health.
Trigger Warning: This episode discusses mental health conditions including depression, anxiety, and workplace trauma.

Follow the Corporate Burnouts podcast for more insights on workplace mental health. 
Thanks for listening!
If you’re ready to take this further, here are a few ways to connect or go deeper:
Free Mental Health Check-in
→ Sign up here to receive a simple yet powerful resource to combat burnout and reclaim your energy.
Join Laurens Newsletter
→ Thoughtful, grounded reflections on navigating workplace pressures, supporting mental health, and leading with impact. Sign up here.
Say hi / share a takeaway
→ Connect with Lauren on LinkedIn.
→ Message Lauren directly here.
Work with Lauren
→ See how Lauren supports senior leaders and HR professionals in building mentally healthy teams and organisations.

What if the real obstacle to your success isn't your abilities, but your belief in your worth? In this season 2 special Lauren Davis sits down with Regina Larko to explore the hidden fears that keep high-achieving leaders up at night - the universal question of "Am I good enough?" that persists regardless of titles, accolades, or salary.

With years of experience supporting executives worldwide, Lauren reveals the most common fear people are afraid to voice: the constant anxiety about being "discovered for not knowing what they're doing." They dive deep into the core of imposter syndrome, exploring how we've become trapped in a cycle of external validation where our worth feels precarious and dependent on achievements that can vanish in an instant.

Lauren shares her own journey from burning out as "Superwoman" to embracing two liberating truths: "It's okay to be disagreeable" and "It's okay to be ordinary." These revolutionary concepts challenge our culture's obsession with exceptionalism and help listeners understand why mediocrity isn't failure - it's part of being human.

They explore why fear of failure keeps us from even trying, how our brains misinterpret discomfort as danger, and why the pursuit of comfort actually makes us more stuck. Drawing on insights from psychiatrist Phil Stutz, they discuss the three certainties of life: uncertainty, pain, and hard work - and how embracing these with compassion can unlock our courage.

Listeners will discover practical strategies to separate their worth from their work, learn to sit with uncomfortable emotions instead of running from them, and understand the delicate balance between "doing" and "being" that true leadership requires. Lauren offers gentle nudges to help us show up courageously, including the simple yet profound act of questioning our busyness: "Am I doing this because it's necessary, or because I'm trying to prove something?"

This episode cuts through hustle culture to reveal what truly matters beneath the busy - helping leaders, entrepreneurs, and anyone striving to build something meaningful find sustainable success without sacrificing their wellbeing. Perfect for anyone feeling overwhelmed by expectations, questioning their path, or ready to drop the cape and lead authentically.

If you've ever felt like you're one mistake away from being found out, or if you're tired of pursuing someone else's definition of success, this conversation will give you the permission to be human and the tools to lead from a place of wholeness rather than striving.

Find Regina Larko:

www.reginalarko.com

or via @regina_larko 
Thanks for listening!
If you’re ready to take this further, here are a few ways to connect or go deeper:
Free Mental Health Check-in
→ Sign up here to receive a simple yet powerful resource to combat burnout and reclaim your energy.
Join Laurens Newsletter
→ Thoughtful, grounded reflections on navigating workplace pressures, supporting mental health, and leading with impact. Sign up here.
Say hi / share a takeaway
→ Connect with Lauren on LinkedIn.
→ Message Lauren directly here.
Work with Lauren
→ See how Lauren supports senior leaders and HR professionals in building mentally healthy teams and organisations.

In this special PODCASTHON episode, Lauren Davis explores the critical intersection of mental health stigma and access to care. Featuring the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG), this episode reveals how 1 in 8 people worldwide live with mental health conditions yet remain trapped in silence due to both internal stigma and systemic barriers to care. Discover how SADAG's innovative work, including their 24-hour crisis line, support groups, and revolutionary "speaking books" that translate mental health education into multiple languages, is creating real change in South Africa and what we can all do to help bridge the gap between "I'm not okay" and accessing help.

You can access SADAG's support portal here:
https://www.sadag.org/#

And reach their support hotline here: 
Crisis helpline: 0800 567
Mental Health help line: 0800 456 789
SMS line: 31393

Podcasthon Website: podcasthon.org - Explore other featured charities
Thanks for listening!
If you’re ready to take this further, here are a few ways to connect or go deeper:
Free Mental Health Check-in
→ Sign up here to receive a simple yet powerful resource to combat burnout and reclaim your energy.
Join Laurens Newsletter
→ Thoughtful, grounded reflections on navigating workplace pressures, supporting mental health, and leading with impact. Sign up here.
Say hi / share a takeaway
→ Connect with Lauren on LinkedIn.
→ Message Lauren directly here.
Work with Lauren
→ See how Lauren supports senior leaders and HR professionals in building mentally healthy teams and organisations.

Burnout and compassion fatigue are reaching crisis levels in HR and leadership roles. In this episode of Beneath the Busy, Lauren Davis explores the hidden emotional cost of being the person everyone relies on and why caring roles are breaking under the weight of constant demand.
This conversation goes beneath surface level self care to unpack compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and the nervous system toll of people centred work. Lauren explains why self care alone is not enough, how emotional residue builds over time, and what sustainable care actually looks like for HR professionals and leaders.
You will learn:
 • What compassion fatigue really is and why it is not a personal failure
 • Why HR and leaders are uniquely exposed to emotional overload
 • The difference between healthy compassion and self abandonment
 • Why supervision and reflective spaces are professional hygiene
 • How self preservation supports better leadership and decision making
This episode is for HR professionals, senior leaders, people managers, and anyone in a role that requires constant emotional availability.
If you are feeling exhausted, numb, or quietly overwhelmed, this episode offers language, validation, and a way forward.
Links and resources mentioned:
 • Compassion Fatigue Self Assessment
 • Reflective Group Practice for HR
 • Leadership Coaching and Support
Take the Leadership Capacity Questionnaire:
https://form.typeform.com/to/Ig3juEuI
Subscribe to Beneath the Busy for weekly conversations on sustainable leadership, mental health at work, and staying well in high pressure roles.
Thanks for listening!
If you’re ready to take this further, here are a few ways to connect or go deeper:
Free Mental Health Check-in
→ Sign up here to receive a simple yet powerful resource to combat burnout and reclaim your energy.
Join Laurens Newsletter
→ Thoughtful, grounded reflections on navigating workplace pressures, supporting mental health, and leading with impact. Sign up here.
Say hi / share a takeaway
→ Connect with Lauren on LinkedIn.
→ Message Lauren directly here.
Work with Lauren
→ See how Lauren supports senior leaders and HR professionals in building mentally healthy teams and organisations.