Our brains are conditioned to expect the response “I’m fine. How are you?” to a generic “How are you?” greeting. But if we suspect there is something not fine, we worry about what to say after a non-standard response. What do you say if someone says “I’m really struggling” or “Things are pretty hard right now”, or you are met just with tears.

My career coach and friend sent me a text at the weekend linking to an article in the Financial Times titled “The trillion-dollar taboo: why it’s time to stop ignoring mental health at work”.

This year I am going to launch a new personal career venture. I am still in the planning stage, but my idea centres around coaching people who have been off work because of their mental health and to facilitate their return to work.

Six weeks ago I stood up in front of my boss and colleagues at work at a session I had arranged and talked about my mental health issues.