Mental health mental health, life-work relationships, caregiving, burnout and contemporary challenges were the focus of a discussion at The Upfront Initiative, with Irini Agapidaki.<\/p>\n
Mental health<\/strong>, resilience<\/strong>, human relationships<\/strong> and the need for meaningful care<\/strong> dominated the discussion on “The Invisible Burden: Work-life balance, Mental Health and Care”, held as part of The Upfront Initiative<\/strong> at the Athens Conservatory.<\/p>\n The Deputy Minister of Health Irene Agapidaki<\/strong> stressed that mental health<\/strong> can no longer be treated as an individual matter, but as an issue of public health<\/strong> and public policy<\/strong>. She said that the economic crisis has helped open up the debate around anxiety<\/strong> and depression<\/strong>, gradually leading to the removal of stigma<\/strong>.<\/p>\n She noted that as taboos are broken, the more material mental health policies<\/strong> become feasible. Referring to modern digital life<\/strong> and the phenomenon of doom scrolling<\/strong>, she warned of the drift away from real human relationships, stressing that more genuine concern<\/strong>, more care<\/strong> and less criticism<\/strong> towards ourselves and others is needed.<\/p>\n The Director of Organizational Development and Communication of METRO AEBE<\/strong>, Dimitra Daskalaki<\/strong>, spoke about the challenges that frontline workers face every day, especially in professions where there is no possibility of hybrid work<\/strong>. He said the “invisible burden” accompanies workers in their daily lives and businesses must create an environment of safety<\/strong> and trust<\/strong> so that people can talk openly about their problems.<\/p>\n At the same time, he stressed that businesses cannot solve every difficulty, but they must demonstrate in practice that they care about their people. He referred to the importance of empathy<\/strong> and human relations, noting that “customers are not always right,” and stressed that no technology<\/strong>, no AI<\/strong> and no org chart can replace genuine human concern.<\/p>\n In the same vein, psychologist Vassilis Kiosses<\/strong> explained that burnout<\/strong> is not an instantaneous condition, but a gradual process that alters a person’s relationship with life and work. As he said, the invisible burden is linked to the deep human need to belong, while psychological burnout often occurs quietly and progressively.<\/p>\n He argued that addressing the problem requires structural changes<\/strong> and not just individual interventions, noting that self-care<\/strong> is important but not enough on its own. At the same time, he defended the importance of so-called soft skills<\/strong>, stressing that the quality of human relationships is a key factor in psychological resilience<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Project Leader of Boston Consulting Group<\/strong>, Victoria Nicolaidou<\/strong>, pointed out that the invisible burden is increasingly linked to the multiple roles<\/strong> that people are asked to manage in modern life. According to her, younger generations are placing particular emphasis on well-being<\/strong>, mental health<\/strong> and work-life balance<\/strong>, linking success not only to earnings but also to quality of life.<\/p>\n He also stressed the importance of prevention<\/strong>, noting that organizations need to recognize early signs that can lead to burnout<\/strong> or employee departure before people reach their limits.<\/p>\n For her part, Head of Corporate Relations at Diageo Hellas<\/strong>, Efi Boura<\/strong>, linked the invisible burden to the need for acceptance<\/strong> and the pressures of belonging to social groups. She stressed that businesses cannot substitute the role of the state or experts, but they can make a substantial contribution to prevention<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Referring to the Smashed<\/strong> programme to prevent underage drinking, she noted that young people are constantly under pressure and stimuli, with the biggest challenge often being managing peer pressure<\/strong> and developing the confidence to say “no”.<\/p>\n Finally, Chief Operating Officer of Dimand S.A.<\/strong>, Olga Itsiou<\/strong>, argued that the invisible burden is often related to the difficult decisions<\/strong> that people are asked to make about their personal and professional paths. He stressed that corporate culture<\/strong> is not shaped by policies and regulations, but by everyday behaviors<\/strong> and open communication between management and employees.<\/p>\n As he pointed out, balance is not a permanent state but an ongoing goal, with small victories and periods of tension being an integral part of the professional and personal journey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mental health, work-life balance, caregiving, burnout and modern challenges were at the centre of the discussion at The Upfront …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9977,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The invisible burden at work, burnout and human relations<\/h3>\n
New Generations and Business – The Search for Balance<\/h3>\n