From Paris to Lausanne to Reykjavík: Preparing Workplace Mental Health for Every Context

I am posting this, travelling between France and Switzerland, before heading back to Iceland in two weeks. Crossing borders reminds me every time that when you work on mental health and leadership across countries and languages, preparation is not optional – it is the work.

We talk about the same topic – workplace mental health – but the numbers, definitions, and legal duties shift as soon as you cross a frontier. If we want impact, we must adapt.

A few comparisons I have discovered when preparing sessions

Happiness and distress

• France: 78% say they feel happy, yet France reports the highest prevalence of depression in Europe, and in 2025 mental health has been declared the Grande cause nationale (Odoxa-MNH 2024; OECD data)
• Switzerland: 83% say they feel happy, but 18% report moderate to severe psychological distress (Obsan 2024)
• Iceland: ranked consistently in the top three countries for life satisfaction, yet 20–25% of young people report significant anxiety or depression symptoms (World Happiness Report 2024; Icelandic Youth Survey 2022)

Stress at work

• France: 69% of employees report feeling fulfilled at work, leaving nearly one in three who do not (OpinionWay 2023)
• Switzerland: Job Stress Index shows 26.4% in a favourable balance, 45.4% in a sensitive balance, and 28.2% in critical stress, with an annual cost estimated at 7.6 billion CHF (Promotion Santé Suisse 2022)
• Iceland: shorter working week pilots demonstrated lower stress, fewer sick days, and reduced burnout, with productivity maintained or improved (Autonomy 2021)

Students

• France: Around 30% of higher education students report psychological distress, and 9–11% symptoms of depression (OVE Barometer 2021; CoviPrev confirms young adults are disproportionately affected).
• Switzerland: About 25% of students report moderate to severe depression, 75% report high anxiety, and 9% report a past suicide attempt (OFS 2020; UNES 2023).
• Iceland: National youth surveys show 20–25% of adolescents report significant symptoms of anxiety or depression, with consistently higher prevalence among girls (Youth in Iceland, 2022).

Suicidal thoughts

• France: 10% of adults reported suicidal thoughts in the past year (CoviPrev 2023)
• Switzerland: 3.4% of adults reported suicidal thoughts in 2022 (OFS 2023)
• Iceland: about 10% lifetime prevalence and 3% in the past year (Sigurðardóttir et al., 2023, BMC Psychiatry)

What this tells us

Different countries, different baselines, same leadership challenge. Wherever you operate, mental health promotion requires:

• Local indicators that reflect real context
• Training aligned with culture and language (ENSA in Switzerland, PSSM in France, peer-support traditions in Iceland)
• A promotion mindset: workload clarity, autonomy, recognition, and psychological safety

Why this matters right now

In France, 2025 marks mental health as the Grande Cause Nationale.

In just one month, from October 6th to 18th, the Semaines d'Information sur la Santé Mentale (SISM) (Mental Health Information Weeks) will mobilise schools, companies, and institutions to boost awareness and knowledge. The urgency is real – but it is not just France. Switzerland, Iceland, and every international workplace face the same rising tide of stress, anxiety, and disengagement.

This is exactly why I decided to join forces with @Santé Mentale pour Tous and contribute to the “Let’s talk about Mental Health at Work” Fresco Une fresque pour parler de la santé mentale au travail. It is an atelier designed to help leaders and teams raise awareness, open dialogue, and build preventive practices around mental health at work. Flexible, multilingual, and evidence-based, it is meant to be adapted across borders.

Call to action

If you are leading an organisation in France, Switzerland, Iceland, or beyond, the time to act is now. Mental health is not just a private matter – it is a performance and culture issue that shapes your teams every day.

👉 Let’s schedule a conversation and see how you too can promote mental health at work, in your workplace.

Click here to block a moment directly in my agenda

and beyond all,



Take care,

....Success NOT Sacrifice