I worked at Goldman Sachs – I know what ‘burnout’ looks like

Rishi Sunak’s government is stigmatising mental health and dehumanising people into numbers and cost – just as the corporate world has done with key performance indicators and quotas, writes former Goldman global recruiting director Ian Dodd. They are effectively burying the bodies and hiding the true extent of suffering

With tone-deaf ignorance, Mel Stride has suggested mental health is being confused with the ‘normal anxieties of life’ (Getty)

Despite all the progress we’ve seemingly made, mental health recognition is in a dire state. Taboos shifted or not, awareness increased or not, suffering is still disregarded – and ignorance, across industry and government, is still sadly a status quo. We must shift our attitude to mental health; we must move towards a new era of care, sympathy, and, most importantly, accountability.

Like so many others – approximately one billion people as of 2019, at least – I’ve experienced mental health conditions. I used to work at Goldman Sachs, where I experienced a dysfunctional culture that I found to bring unsustainable hours, unreasonable demands and burnout. I’ve since issued legal proceedings against the company. In response, Goldman have said I was the problem – that I was responsible for working excessive hours and that my claims are without merit.

From what I have seen, in financial services especially, chest-beating alpha males and the ever-unhelpful “get on with it” attitudes have suppressed any meaningful progress. As if the many tragedies and suicide attempts shouldn’t be cause enough, accountability for staff is still elusive.