On the occasion of the Mental Health Awareness Weeks, I took time to reflect on this year’s theme:

“For our mental health, let’s repair social connection.”

It is a powerful statement. And a necessary one.

For more than twenty years, I have observed teams, leaders, women and men behind their professional roles. Across sectors, hierarchies and contexts, one reality keeps coming back, quietly but consistently: social connection is the primary factor of mental health at work.

Not forced team-building activities.

Not superficial “check-ins” or virtual coffee breaks.

What truly matters are real relationships, the kind of relationships where someone can say “I’m tired,” “I’m doubting,” “I need help” without fear of being judged, sidelined, or penalised.

That is where healing begins.

Trust is not a soft concept. It is a deeply human one. It allows people to exist fully within a group, to breathe inside the collective, to learn from others rather than protect themselves from them. When trust is present, individuals do not need to wear armour. They can show up as they are.

It is therefore no coincidence that, today, many of the organisations I work with are reaching out for the same reasons. They are asking for support to rebuild social bonds, to restore solidarity, to give meaning back to the collective dimension of work.

They sense that without trust, without genuine connection, organisations slowly lose their human energy. People remain physically present, but emotionally absent. Collaboration becomes transactional. Engagement fades.

In a world that keeps accelerating, trust becomes the guiding thread. And trust cannot be imposed or declared. It is built over time, through simple, repeated gestures: listening without interrupting, acknowledging vulnerability, keeping one’s word, allowing space for dialogue rather than rushing to solutions.

When trust is there, everything changes.

Teams dare more. They support one another more naturally. They move forward together rather than side by side. Work stops being a place of constant strain and becomes, once again, a space of shared energy and contribution.

I deeply believe that mental health is nourished by human connection. And that relearning how to trust (ourselves, others, and the collective) may be one of the most powerful forms of prevention we have.

Repairing social connection is not an abstract ambition. It is a daily practice. One conversation at a time. One relationship at a time.

How, in your teams or work environments, are you contributing to repairing social connection?