The Social Brain is Starving in Today's Workplace
We are in the age of twin epidemics of mental health and isolation, combined with historic levels of geopolitical and economic uncertainty, remote work and AI disruption. And more. A wicked set of intertwined problems impacts the workplace. In the midst of the “storm,” your organization has the opportunity to create a psychologically thriving culture that attracts and retains talent.
Neuroscience has confirmed: The human brain is a social brain
The US workforce is lonely. Friendship is in steep decline. Almost 1 in 5 Americans have no close friends. Americans have fewer close friendships—including with coworkers—than they once did, talk to their friends less often, and rely less on friends for personal support. In the midst of the current mental health epidemic, the social isolation amplifies mental health risks. Decision makers—and decision shapers—are contending with the mental health concerns of their collagues and teams. And the C-Suite is not exempt from their own mental health struggles.
Ready or not, mental health has an increasingly significant presence in the workforce:
Half of CEOs feel lonely. [Source: Harvard Business Review]
Depression is the largest cause of absenteeism and presenteeism. [Source: The National Libraray of Medicine]
Each year 1 in 10 adults have a mental health crisis. [Source: Johns Hopkins University]
During the pandemic, while important technologies such as Zoom took off, anxiety and depression rose by 25% globally, driven in part by social isolation, . Rates have not dropped to pre-pandemic levels. [Source: World Health Organization]
What does this mean for employers
One third of employees report that their mental health is impacted by work demands. Employees want to talk about mental health experiences, but many fear losing their jobs if they were to reveal mental health challenges. The social brain is starved for meaningful human connection. And overloaded. There are many factors that isolate us from each other, in our families, our communities and our workplaces. Technologies that enable remote work and access to the power of AI have proven essential to business. At the same time, among the forces that separate us at work are remote work and AI. The digital workplace exacerbates mental health struggles and and loneliness. Why? Virtual connection offers a false promise: The science of relational neurobiology reveals that it’s not as deep and rich as face-to-face human interaction.
“Technology doesn’t just change what we do, it changes who we are.” – Sherry Turkle, Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of Social Science and Technology, MIT
To meet challenge of managing the human tradeoffs of AI and remote work requires attention, thought and ingenuity. What does this mean for decision makers? All the essential capacities decision makers—and decision shapers—rely on are negatively impacted by lack of human connection:
Information processing
Communication skills
Learning
Memory
Empathy
Creativity
Stress coping
Emotion regulation
Attention & Focus
Planning skills
Judgment
The costs of human dis-connection are vast: Deteriorating emotional, cognitive and interpersonal functioning, burnout. Compromised decision-making. At a time when business leaders need to be at their best mentally in order to make tough decisions in the face of complex crises.
Here's where we come in
The pay off to creating a culture that proactively supports mental well-being? According to a 2025 Mental Health at Work Report published by Mind Share Partners it means less burnout, less mental health impacts, more trust and loyalty, improved retention.
At Warren Insight Partners we help you:
Forge the human connection needed for your decision shapers’ brains to function optimally under pressure.
Find ways to maximize connection while balancing the realities of AI and remote work.
Inspire a culture that enhances mental well-being and resilience by nourishing and sustaining the social brain.
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