May 2023

MANAGEMENT TRENDS There’s More to Health than Working Out and Eating Well: Mental Health Challenges in the Community Association Industry

By Chuck Graziano, CPM, PCAM, Wilkin Management Group, AAMC

A t the 2022 CAI Annual Conference, a highly impact ful presentation was made on the subject of mental health related to community association managers. It is clear that nationwide, the stresses and strains of life are at possibly the highest level ever. In fact, the National Safety Council recently stated that there has been a 40% increase in work/life stress due to COVID alone! Statistically, that trans lates to employers of an average annual cost of $15,000 per employee affected by depression or other mental health chal lenges. And the cost to the economy is staggering, estimated at $187 Billion, including health care costs, absenteeism, and lost productivity. Community managers are generally high-performance individuals, who are “people pleasers”. As we look around at our peers, the common thread we see is that we are goal-oriented, performance-driven individuals who are chal lenged every day, oftentimes dealing with adversity. Over time, these daily stressors could result in weight gain, loss of sleep, and increased risk of stroke and heart attack. According to Shelley O’Keefe, one of CAI’s presenters at the 2022 Conference, the condition of clinical depression is real, and it is physiological. When symptoms occur, it is critical to seek help from a qualified specialized healthcare professional. According to the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, “Nearly 74% of Americans who seek help for symptoms of depression go to a primary care physician (PCP) rather than a mental health professional, and a diag nosis of depression is missed 50% of the time in a primary care setting.” Sometimes, however, the drive for performance may not be visible. “High-Performance Depression” is a highly dangerous condition, and it is not visible on the surface. Bill Overton, PCAM, also one of the presenters at the CAI Conference described this condition: An individual who

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is a high-performance depressant performs at a very high level…until they don’t. Suddenly, you wake up and learn that a person suffering from this condition has committed suicide, which seems inexplicable given their recent level of performance. What stops people from opening up about the serious condition they’re experiencing is largely due to the stigma that is all too common in society (Ever hear the expression “suck it up, buttercup”?). Thanks to some heroes of our day, however, mental health is being recognized as a common condition that more of our peers experience than we realize and it requires attention. One standout example is Simone Biles. At the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Simone was heavily favored to break all records CONT I NU E S ON PAGE 40 “What stops people from opening up about the serious condition they’re experiencing is largely due to the stigma that is all too common in society...”

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