“Doomscrolling”: obsessively scanning social media feeds for the most upsetting news*In the pre-Covid era, whenever that was now that time can no longer be adequately recognized in its passing, we saw a genuine attempt to counterbalance the preponderance of “doomscrolling” with a lot of material from organizations cheerfully reminding us that this is “best time to be alive in history.” It was developed by individuals and organizations with valid concerns about our collective mental health. Despite these good intentions, and regardless of the validity or rigour of the science behind this material, it just didn't resonate with me.  This type of material seemed oblivious to the “mood” or trend of where we were going. It in fact contributed to my constant, low levels of anxiety by drawing attention to a static moment of human achievement and leaving myself, as the reader, with a sense that every passing moment is part of the downward spiral of our collective state. It was like watching a beautiful painting slowly crack and fray at the edges before your eyes and not knowing if you are the only one seeing it.All the while, there has perhaps never been a more direct focus on supporting mental health and wellbeing in the workplace and society as a whole: from new technology options to the promotion of internal champions, from massive social media campaigns by celebrities and organizations to individual people leaders standing up and talking about their own struggles. Even with the essential work to be done to ensure that services are reflective of the lived experience and cultural requirements of traditionally vulnerable and under-served communities, we are considerably more engaged on this than we were five, or certainly ten years ago.Fast forward with whatever arbitrary demarcation of time we are using, and we have very much the opposite situation. The predominant historical narrative that we are watching being written by everyone from digital sophists, activists of every chromatic morality, media talking heads to elected officials about this time is that we are on a decline as a society, that our glories are fading, that we are grumbling against the dying of the light. What “good news” stories that are written often have the requisite caveats about how everything else is terrible, just as every backpack has a mushy piece of fruit at the bottom that your hand always seems to immediately find, or in other instances, solicit ever more manic responses from groups desperately seeking any distraction.So how could it be that, with all of these services, there are those of us who are still anxious, stressed, exhausted, put upon, or tuned out? For some it may be that they are not aware of what is available to them, or that there are institutional barriers to service that still exist, or there may even be individuals who do not relate the decline in their mental health with current events. For many, articulating our specific fears and anxiety may be deeply unsettling in itself. Perhaps there is a fear of being viewed as ascribing to nihilism, irrationality or conspiracy. For however much we have done to create “safe workplaces” for people to express their concerns or issues, or at least professionalized the training process for managers and people leaders to say they are equipped to do so, we still operate with the mentality that it is inappropriate to express strong emotions in the workplace or with work colleagues. I am not suggesting that we encourage rage, anger, or other emotions that will jeopardize the safety or wellbeing of an office as a whole. People have to always act from a place of consideration and respect when it comes to interacting with their colleagues and the public.I am talking about allowing people to express in specific terms their frustration with all of this nonsense without tut-tutting them to management or papier mache'ing them with mental health brochures. Many of us are socialized not to bring up the topics that are now front and center: notably, politics, mortality, and the end of “our world.” Individuals should be allowed to howl into the abyss without employers viewing it as a failure of their support systems or as an act unbecoming of a professional. Because allowing some venting now about the immaterial dread that covers everything may provide clarity about the underlying issues that are specifically impacting them that can be helped with the services available, concentrating on the pained whisper at the end of the yell so to speak. The best way I have seen this process and goal described is through a quote by famed Canadian-American author Spider Robinson (CANCON!), Shared pain is lessened; shared joy, increased — thus do we refute entropy.So maybe during the next video conference you run with your colleagues, take a moment at the beginning or the end and allow for a little screaming into the void. Even on mute, it may do enough to keep entropy and despondence away for another day.*(I am paraphrasing here – the Urbandictionary.com definition uses language that is…shall we say…more blue, and while many of us are working from home, we are on work devices).Rob Rosenfeld is the Vice President, National Capital Region and Corporate Communications for Morneau Shepell, the largest provider of mental health and employee wellbeing services in Canada. He has previously worked as both a civil servant and a political staffer, as well as for the not-for-profit, and post-secondary sector. While his expressed opinions are his own, his employer shares his passion for advocating for greater mental health support and services for all Canadians.