Workers are anxious. Here’s how HR can help.

Is there anyone out there who isn’t anxious?

Anxiety affects 40 million US adults, or 19.1% of the population, making it the most common mental disorder in the country, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.

Given its prevalence, HR pros should consider how it may be affecting their workforces, and what tools they may need to help cope, according to David H. Rosmarin, author of Thriving with Anxiety: 9 Tools to Make Your Anxiety Work for You.

“Anxiety is a part of your life,” Rosmarin told HR Brew, later adding, “It’s part of being human, and we have to have a way to use our anxiety, not to get rid of it.”

Rosmarin discussed his book and how HR pros can help workers navigate anxiety with HR Brew.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What will HR pros learn from your book?

People, when they’re anxious, they can’t start…thinking about which tool they have in their toolkit. They need like one, two, three, or four [steps of] this is what I do.

What are your four steps to tackle anxiety?

Number one: Identify…what is the root of your anxiety? What are you afraid of?...’I’m nervous about a meeting.’ What about the meeting is making you anxious? What is the worst case scenario that, really, you are bothered by? And, just having that in your mind.

Step two: Share it. Share it with someone else…You get more perspective. Anxiety, when you share it out loud, it’s like shining a light on it, as opposed to being in the cave by yourself. You’re not alone with it.

Number three: Embrace your anxiety…because what it means is, actually, it’s possible that you get fired, and you lose your dog, and you have to move back with your mom for like three months or six months or longer…Can you face that possibility in your mind? It would suck. But, is that something you can go to?....When you embrace it, when you really stand up to it, then the anxiety shrinks.

And, then the hardest one of all: Let go. Let go of control, because, let’s understand, you don’t have it in any way…There’s so much we don’t control as human beings, and embracing that, especially in the era of geopolitical uncertainty, and AI, and economic changes…We have to recognize that and let go of that which we can’t control.

How can HR pros use these four steps in the workplace?

Recently, I was consulting to a nonprofit, and I asked them to identify what the real risk is, and they said the sweetest thing…They’re not nervous about their PNL. They weren’t nervous about their shareholders. They were nervous about having to lay off people who are good people doing good things in their workforce.

Once they said it, it just humanized the whole process…Embracing it was obviously hard because they had to face the possibility that they might end up having to change things. But, they also recognize they’re not in full control over that, and sometimes innovations happen when your back is up against the wall. And, that actually allowed them to be more creative in problem solving.

What other advice do you have for HR pros?

When an HR professional treats anxiety as a problem to solve, you’re going to offer benefits and make the situation worse. Don’t. Help people to use their anxiety in a positive way, validate it, understand that it’s normal, especially in today’s age, I mean, come on, do HR professionals really expect people not to be anxious today?