Midsummer mental health pressures on employees' stem from holiday cover workloads, disrupted sleep from heat and light, and the stress of balancing family summer holidays. Many employees face the complex challenge of balancing work responsibilities with intensified home and family demands. The seasonal shift can create compressed expectations— holiday planning, childcare adjustments, hosting duties, and catching up on deferred tasks—that elevate stress levels and erode the boundaries between professional and personal life. Here Ryan Erispe, Head of Clinical at The Cabin, Drug and Alcohol Rehab in Thailand, looks at how these mounting pressures often lead some individuals to rely on unhealthy coping mechanisms.

These negative behaviours can include increased alcohol and, in some cases, drug consumption. Such short-term relief strategies can create longer-term mental health consequences, affecting productivity, safety, and overall well-being.

So, what can companies do to support employee health this summer? Organisations can play a critical role by acknowledging the seasonal stressors and offering practical support. Flexible scheduling, clear communication of expectations before and after holiday periods, mental-health days, and access to counselling services can reduce the risk of burnout and substance reliance. Managers trained to recognise signs of distress can make timely referrals and foster a culture where seeking help is normalised.

Workload management is also crucial. Prioritise projects and negotiate deadlines before leaving so critical deliverables are handled and less urgent work can wait. Consider staggered time off across teams to ensure coverage while allowing everyone a chance for time away. For remote or hybrid teams, agree on core hours and asynchronous communication norms to minimise stress and interruptive check-ins during leave.

Tips for managing summer mental health

Self-care during holidays should be intentional. Encourage practices like limiting email checks, scheduling daily downtime, getting regular exercise and maintaining sleep routines. Mental health benefits when people fully detach from work; even short, tech-free periods can significantly reduce stress and improve focus upon return.

Leaders play an important role by modelling healthy behaviour. Managers who respect boundaries and take their own time off signal that rest is valued and increase the likelihood that team members will do the same. Organisations can support this by providing guidance on leave policies, mental health resources and training on workload planning.

Encourage open, honest discussions in the workplace, normalising stress and ensuring that these discussions are safe.

Lowering your personal expectations, maintaining basic routines around sleep and meals, seeking daylight where possible, staying connected with others, and being mindful of coping behaviours can all help. Breaking tasks into manageable steps, avoiding harsh self-criticism, and addressing stress early rather than ignoring it are equally important. Perhaps most crucially, you should recognise when you need support and reach out to friends, family, or professionals.

Look at your drinking habits and ask yourself, are you using alcohol to cope with anxiety, depression, or stress? If you drink to handle stress, loneliness, or anxiety, that’s a clear sign of a problem. If one drink has turned into two, then three, your body may be building a tolerance. This means you need more alcohol to feel the same effects, which can quietly lead to dependence.

Take a digital detox – heavy reliance on devices can contribute to anxiety and depression, sleep disruption, reduced attention span and strained relationships. When you’re not at work, take the opportunity to enjoy quality connection and spend uninterrupted time with loved ones — a meal, a walk, or a conversation without phones nearby.

For individuals and organisations alike, a proactive approach to summer leave helps protect mental health while sustaining performance. Thoughtful preparation, clear communication and supportive leadership create conditions where both breaks and business goals succeed.

A plan for re-entry can ease post-holiday anxiety. Block a short buffer period upon return for catching up, triaging messages and reprioritising tasks. A structured re-entry makes it easier to sustain the benefits of time off and maintain long-term mental well-being.

Work shouldn't be something you merely survive until the evening, the weekend, or your next holiday. It won't always be easy, exciting, or enjoyable, but it should offer some sense of purpose, meaning, growth, or contribution.

When your working life becomes something to endure rather than a meaningful part of your life, it's worth paying attention. If you find yourself relying on the same escape, distraction, or coping mechanism just to get through each day, it may be time to ask whether the problem is the workload, the environment, or whether you're simply on the wrong path.

Ryan comments: “Wellness isn't just about recovering from work. It's about creating a life where your work supports your mental health rather than constantly depleting it. We spend too much of our lives at work to only feel alive when we're away from it”.