Talking about good mental health is something we do a lot these days. But little do we know there is another side to it, which deals in love, joy, anger- all types of emotions. The side we know as emotional wellness. When we hear the term emotional wellness, we instantly think it is about feel-good emotions. But it is more than that.
In fact, emotional wellness involves going through all kinds of emotions and managing them. If a person is facing a difficult situation, an emotionally well person would have a positive outlook and work towards solving it with resilience.
Moumita Paul discusses the spectrum of emotional wellness in great detail in this podcast. She further talks about her journey in the field of emotional wellbeing and how wellness programs would help promote it.
Key Takeaways
- Emotional wellness is a measurable productivity input, not a soft topic. Moumita cites Mental Health America data showing depression costs the US economy over $51 billion in absenteeism and lost productivity plus $26 billion in treatment. In ADAA surveys, 56% of employees with daily stress say it hurts their work quality and 51% say it damages peer relationships.
- Unprocessed emotion shows up as focus loss at work. She walks through a client who couldn't focus at his desk — tried every distraction-removal hack, signed out of social media — until they identified the real cause: he was suppressing, not processing, the hurts that kept surfacing. Emotions you avoid haunt the task list.
- Seven indicators of emotional wellness. Moumita's checklist: feeling energized for the day; spontaneous gratitude; composure under sudden change; fast bounce-back from painful events; sustained calm rather than forced happiness; ability to enter flow states; and not dwelling in negative emotion for long stretches. Two or three in consistent practice is the bar.
- Corporate wellness programs are half-built without a mental health module. She gives programs credit for steps, water, sleep, and preventive screening — then names the gap: dedicated emotional-wellness modules. Her prescription: guided meditation, emotion-regulation workshops, gratitude practices, journaling, counselling services, scheduled breaks.
- Mental-health days and mental-health weeks belong in the benefits stack. Moumita advocates not just a day but a week off for mental recovery, grounded in neuroscience — the brain cannot sustain focused gamma state indefinitely.
- Men are the hidden mental-health liability at work. She cites ADAA data: 79% of men say workplace stress damages their marriage (more than women), 34% fear complaining looks like lack of commitment, 31% fear being labelled weak, 22% fear promotion impact. Without psychological safety, managers never hear the real data.
- Managers make or break the emotional-wellness contract. Empathy and understanding are non-optional leadership skills; without them employees will not open up about mental-health struggle, no matter how good the program design.
In Moumita's Words
On the workplace cost of unaddressed emotion
Depression is costlier than heart disease or AIDS in the US economy — over fifty-one billion in absenteeism and lost productivity, and twenty-six billion in treatment cost. Seventy-two percent of people with daily stress and anxiety say it interferes with their lives; fifty-six percent say it affects workplace performance and quality of work.
People develop coping mechanisms — alcoholism, shopaholism, workaholism, overeating, addictions — because nobody has told them how to cope with the stresses they're dealing with.
If we keep avoiding, neglecting, or suppressing our painful feelings, they don't go away. They come and haunt you.
On what emotional wellness actually looks like
Most of us think happiness and joy are the end goals. That's actually not true. The state a person is comfortable in is a peaceful, inner, calm, relaxed state — where they can just be themselves without pretending, without being anxious.
A person who is emotionally well will not feel negative emotions for longer periods. They might feel resentful for five minutes and then get over it. I've seen people who have been resentful for years.
On what corporate wellness programs still miss
Most corporate wellness programs have a lot going on for physical health — 10,000 steps, water, sleep, preventive checkups. What would make these programs complete is a dedicated module for emotional and mental health.
If we are constantly in a state of productivity, it burns us out. The brain needs a break and so do our emotions.
On culture, safety, and men at work
Seventy-nine percent of men report workplace stress affects their relationships with their spouse, even more than women. Thirty-four percent fear that if they complain it would be interpreted as a lack of interest. Thirty-one percent are afraid they'll be labelled weak.
If we don't cultivate a culture of safety where people can voice their opinions, managers and HR will never know there is a problem — because nobody complains. They think everything is hunky-dory because there is no trust in the environment.
A positive work culture has a common theme of trust where people can just be themselves. This is something I have hardly seen in many places.
About the Speaker
Moumita Paul is a self-discovery coach, content creator and a public speaker. She has been a corporate employee for 14 years, working as a senior product manager in companies like Amazon and Walt Disney. After feeling going through depression in 2020 and overcoming it, Moumita made it her mission to empower young corporate employees, small business owners, and mid-career crisis professionals to raise self-awareness, eliminate limiting beliefs, excel at work, remain calm in difficult situations, and improve any relationships.
Connect with her on Linkedin.
Show Notes
(01:05) Tell us about your journey in the field of wellness.
(02:46) Is emotional resilience related to emotional wellness?
(03:33) What do you mean by emotional wellness? Is mental health and emotional wellness the same thing?
(05:03) How is emotional wellness relevant in the workplace?
(06:57) What are the factors that affect emotional wellness in an individual?
(08:00) Do you think the impact of physical wellness overweighs emotional wellness in the workplace? Does the concept of emotional wellness often gets neglected?
(12:10) What are the 7 indicators of emotional wellness?
(21:13) What is your take on corporate wellness programs? Do you think they can help help promote emotional wellness?
(24:44) Do you have any other valuable suggestions for our listeners?
Related Podcast: Emotional Wellness in the Workplace
