SeekHer Foundation Releases Second Annual Report to Bridge The Gap in Women's Mental Health

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Mar 16, 2023, 08:00 ET

2023 SeekHer Shift data highlights the need for safety, trust & belonging in our community environments to support women's mental health

SAN DIEGO, March 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SeekHer Foundation, a non-profit organization that advocates for women's mental well-being, today announced its latest research findings published in the 2023 SeekHer Shift Report on 'Bridging The Gap in Women's Mental Health'. Insights from the second annual report were gathered from 1,612 survey respondents across the United States, with support from leading brands and organizations including OLLY, RoC Skincare, and Pure Leaf to identify the barriers negatively impacting women's mental well-being – and the need to create safety, trust, and belonging within our home, work, and community environments.

Throughout the majority of survey responses, women voiced their needs for reclaiming their time, emotional connection, and access to non-judgmental spaces where they can speak up and live authentically. A lack of emotional safety and security in their sense of identity led women to feel isolated, even within their social circles, the report showed. The findings also highlighted the external pressures that women internalize as a personal responsibility to 'do it all' without an adequate support system as they carry the invisible load in their households. Most alarming, women are constantly measuring their self-worth based on their ability to meet family expectations, body and beauty standards, and workplace demands.

"OLLY supports the work of SeekHer because women deserve to be seen and heard, and many times our voices are just whispers," said Andrea Ronzani, VP Social Impact of OLLY PBC. "The Shift report amplifies the themes learned post-pandemic about the importance of community, safety, and belonging, especially in the workplace. If we care about equity, companies need to look at work design differently—consider adopting flexible working, role sharing, build trust and encourage individuals to show up as their true selves without consequence."

The SeekHer Shift findings showed:

62% of women say they'll wait a week or longer to take time for self-care, with nearly half of them indicating they rarely make time and often forget their own needs.
While 71% of women report emotional support as what they most desire, 58% still struggle to feel connected or have no support within their existing social environment.
Despite 82% of women surveyed saying they want to live in a world where they can show up as their true selves to feel seen and accepted, over one-third (39%) report challenges around their social identity and worry their social circles won't accept who they truly are.
62% of working women report lacking safe spaces at work where they can routinely open up about juggling their personal and professional lives, with nearly ⅓ (30%) having experienced or witnessed biased treatment in the workplace because of their identity.
59% of women who identify as mothers or domestic partners say they often don't feel supported through their feelings of overwhelm within those roles.

"There are too many external factors limiting womens' ability to have a positive outlook on the future—from societal pressures to unrealistic beauty standards to perfectionism—which is why it's so important to support the work that SeekHer is doing to shift the cultural narrative," said Hillary Hutcheson, CMO of RoC Skincare.

These and other findings point to the urgent cultural shifts needed to break down the barriers that keep us isolated in our struggles, and build bridges that create cultures of care where we can learn to see each other and be truly seen. In response to the findings, SeekHer is planning a Spring 2023 release of resources and programming to promote wellness and equity in the workplace – with organizations serving as influential environments that initiate the shift to empower more women to thrive in their work and life.

"Women have long internalized their mental health struggles as their own, when in reality, wellness is influenced by the environments we interact with on a daily basis," said Dr. Monica Mo, founder and Executive Director of SeekHer Foundation. "The fact that we spend on average one-third of our lives at work makes it clear that employers have both an opportunity and responsibility to activate cultures of care that truly value us as the human beings we are."

Download and view the full 2023 SeekHer Shift Report at www.seekher.org/seekher-shift. For more information about SeekHer Foundation's initiatives, visit www.seekher.org.

About SeekHer Foundation

SeekHer Foundation is a non-profit organization on a mission to power more women for the greater good. By partnering with advocates and allied organizations, we're bridging the gender gap of mental health through advocacy, research, and support for women-led communities to shift cultural norms holding women back from their well-being and success. SeekHer is an advocacy project powered by WellSeek, a social impact collective that's reimagining women's wellness in our workplaces and communities.

SOURCE SeekHer Foundation