Self-care plays an important role in maintaining well-being at work. Practices such as taking breaks, setting boundaries, staying active, and managing sleep can help regulate stress and restore balance. However, there are times when self-care alone may not be sufficient — and recognising this early is a strength, not a failure.
Knowing when to seek support helps prevent prolonged distress, reduces the risk of burnout, and promotes healthier outcomes for both individuals and organisations.
Understanding the Limits of Self-Care
Self-care is most effective for everyday stress and recovery. When challenges become persistent or overwhelming, additional support may be needed. Signs that self-care may no longer be enough include:
- Ongoing distress that does not improve despite rest or routine adjustments
- Difficulty concentrating, making decisions, or functioning at work
- Feeling persistently overwhelmed, anxious, or emotionally numb
- Increased irritability or withdrawal from colleagues and social interactions
These signals are not a reflection of personal weakness. Rather, they indicate that the nervous system may be under sustained strain and requires support beyond individual coping strategies.
Reframing Support-Seeking at Work
In many workplaces, seeking help is still misunderstood as a sign of poor resilience. In reality, early support often helps employees remain productive, engaged, and psychologically well over the long term.
Support can take many forms — speaking with a trusted colleague, having a conversation with a manager, or accessing formal workplace resources. Normalising these options encourages earlier intervention, rather than waiting until stress escalates into burnout or prolonged absence.
How Workplaces Can Enable Healthy Help-Seeking
Organisations play a key role in shaping whether employees feel safe to seek support. Helpful practices include:
- Making support pathways clear and easy to access
- Encouraging conversations early, before issues escalate
- Responding with consistency, confidentiality, and respect
- Reinforcing that well-being and performance are interconnected
Frameworks such as Psychological First Aid help workplaces create a shared, non-clinical approach to recognising distress and offering appropriate support.
A Balanced Approach to Well-Being
Self-care and support are not opposites — they work best together. When employees feel able to practise self-care while also seeking help when needed, well-being becomes more sustainable and less isolating. This balanced approach benefits individuals and contributes to healthier, more resilient workplaces.
