By Kanchana Moodliar
I bet every harried entrepreneur or stressed business leader sweating over the bottom line knows full well the importance of mental health.
Most of those people, juggling multiple problems in a country bedevilled by challenges, haven’t taken the time to deal with their mental health. Resolving stress is foremost in their minds, but like a nagging headache, they just want it to go away.
Alas, without the tools and the time, the problem will linger and have a profoundly negative impact on their business.
As long as mental health is relegated to file 13, stress will make people sick and problems will multiply at firms that don’t appreciate why the mind matters. It jeopardises our health, our prospects and our profits.
I’m not about to scare the socks off you with statistics. It will only make you more stressed, and besides, most people already recognise the effects of stress in the workplace.
Burnout and absenteeism are spiking, while motivation and productivity are plummeting. But for the sake of the facts, here’s a quick snapshot.
The US National Alliance on Mental Illness says one in five Americans experiences mental illness each year, leading to workplace anger, resentment and anxiety.
The World Health Organisation estimates the cost of depression and anxiety at $1 trillion a year.
Investec says the economic impact of mental health issues in South Africa is R161 billion annually. Quantifying the total cost is tricky, however, because, as a News24 article notes, the effects include suicide, cancer, cardiovascular disease and employee disengagement – and are not always attributed directly to mental health problems.
Cassey Chambers is the Operations Director of the South African Depression and Anxiety Group, an organisation with a 50-year commitment to mental health advocacy.
She says South Africa is among the most distressed nations globally: 52% of employees were diagnosed with a mental health issue last year.
Cassey is one of 1 500 delegates participating in the Mind Matters Summit in Cape Town this September, where a world-class panel of experts will unpack the problem, help diagnose participants’ challenges and work with a tested toolkit to address what is broadly written off as “stress”, but is in fact poor mental wellness.
We’ve partnered with Informa, the world’s largest events company. They also run the World Health Expo, the largest global network of healthcare events connecting more than 600 000 professionals.
We’re doing this because neuroscientists can help us rewire our brains.
By understanding what your most powerful asset is capable of, you can redefine your future success.
Targeting business leaders is strategic. If they are mentally well and understand how to develop mental wellness, business will grow, democracy will be better embedded, and society will be less vulnerable to volatility.
The C-suite is a discerning crowd, for good reason. We want to be led by the best minds, which is why we’ve assembled thought leaders in this field to engage robustly around a topic that is critical to our future.
Mind your mind – it matters
Many cynics dismiss mental wellness remedies as woo-woo nonsense because the issue is so poorly pitched and the landscape littered with charlatans.
Fixing mental wellness isn’t about hosting pity parties. It’s about understanding how to harness your mind, which generates around 60 000 thoughts a day.
Frankly, people are right to be wary of navigating this subject. That’s why we rely heavily on the science of neuroplasticity – the brain’s ability to rewire itself in response to new stimulation, learning and experience.
Our minds can defeat us, but when positively directed they are the miracle within.
We need to access this power calmly and consciously, ensuring our thoughts, words and actions are aligned rather than at odds.
Andreea Vanacker is a Canadian entrepreneur with a PhD in economics and finance. She also hosts a global podcast and is a brain tumour survivor. Her work explores synergies between neuroscience, positive psychology, leadership, human resilience, joy and purpose.
She will be one of our guest speakers, alongside South African superstar vocalist Lira, who suffered a stroke in 2022. Her voice might have been muted for life, but she has Something Inside So Strong.
Lira will tell us what that is. So will Tatjana Smith, who once disliked swimming and is now South Africa’s most decorated Olympic athlete.
These women rewired their brains – and changed their lives.
How did they “flick the switch” so dramatically?
Understanding the science behind escaping the stress trap also allows us to draw on ancient wisdom – yoga, mindfulness and breathing techniques developed centuries ago.
The code
Some people’s eyes roll when they hear those words. The language can feel mushy, but it’s best understood through the raw, unfiltered stories of game changers and comeback champions like Tatjana, Lira and Andreea.
Andreea and another panellist, Christophe Fauconnier, co-authored The Human Growth Code, described as a “practical and paradigm-scattering new way to think about change”.
It’s about prospering in a fast-changing, complex world.
If you’re still wavering on the impact of these shifts, read Deloitte’s 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey, based on almost 25 000 interviews. The word “stress” appears 31 times in the 51-page report.
These generations are just as focused on the bottom line as their anxious parents – but they’re using softer skills and AI to unlock profits.
Money, meaning and wellbeing intersect to create happiness for Gen Z. That happiness, however, doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It is deeply intertwined with environmental concern and a sense of purpose.
We need to pay attention to these findings in a world where artificial intelligence is taking jobs. This demands a deeper understanding of what it means to be human rather than machine – living with energy, creativity and good health.
That so many of us are stressed and depressed speaks volumes about the state of society and the corporate world.
We need to grow. We are not machines. Yet technology increasingly makes us feel as though we’re competing with them.
The Human Growth Code helps us navigate this tension, as does Mo Gawdat.
Mo is known for his work in AI and previously served as Chief Business Officer at Google X, Alphabet’s “moonshot factory”. He has written two bestsellers, Solve for Happy and Scary Smart.
His view is that AI is a tool, and its impact on happiness depends on how we choose to use it.
Fully understanding choice requires calming the brain to become receptive.
This isn’t an intense, mind-bending exercise. It’s not fearful or overwhelming. On the contrary, our experts champion simple, effective interventions – from tango to laughter – because movement and mirth are medicine.
There is a compelling business case for changing the mind where it matters.
South Africa, with all its problems, offers powerful context. Despite immense challenges, this year the country boasts the world’s best cricket and rugby teams, the world’s strongest man and woman, the world’s fastest 100m runner, four other athletic firsts, the world’s best surfer, and Dricus du Plessis, the undefeated UFC champion.
Dricus sums it up with his famous Afrikaans phrase: “hulle weet nie wat ons weet nie.”
This grit and resourcefulness are part of the magic of the mind – and it’s not the preserve of champions alone.
We can all access it to transform leadership from burnout to breakthrough.
Kanchana is a wellness expert, business strategist and co-founder of Mind Matters, a platform she launched with Evan Roberts and Kamlen Pillay to bring together world leaders in mental fitness and corporate wellbeing.
