Consistent insomnia, tears in the office toilet, arguments at home: for a clinician, this picture does not suggest a “weak character”, but a medical risk. When our emotional ties and our work deteriorate together, the probability of breaking down explodes. The Argentine psychoanalyst Gabriel Rolón even sums up this shift with a sharp formula: “This person is going to get sick.”
Psychoanalyst and writer, Gabriel Rolón explains: “When a person is happy with who they are and happy with what they do, that person will be healthy.” It describes two pillars of our mental health: love and work. In France, the 2025 Barometer of the impact of professional relations on mental health, published by the Service Academy and Better World, already shows 42% of employees in moderate to high psychological distress.
Love and work, the two columns of mental health according to Gabriel Rolón
For Gabriel Rolón, mental health is not just an internal matter: it is linked to what we experience in our relationships and in our employment. If one of the two pillars falters, the other can serve as a crutch, after a breakup for example or a dismissal. He summarizes: “Very often, when one fails, the other supports us.” When love and work both become sources of suffering, insomnia, anxiety, sadness, and then physical illnesses arise.
When work attacks the psychic: numbers and relationships in the office
The World Health Organization describes mental health as a state that enables one to cope with stress, work well, and contribute to the community. The Service Academy’s 2025 Barometer shows that 87% of suffering employees attribute their condition to their work environment, and that four out of five feel mental fatigue linked to professional pressures, at a cost of up to €3,000 per employee per year.
This same barometer emphasizes the relational climate: quality of trust, listening, the right to make mistakes with colleagues and managers. ReachLink reminds us that simple positive micro-interactions, in the office or teleworking, increase energy and reduce fatigue. Conversely, isolation, humiliating remarks or constant control transform each day into a threat and prepare the ground for psychological distress.
Protect yourself: relational boundaries and warning signs to listen to
Marjorie Rose describes six types of limits so as not to exhaust yourself in your connections: physical, emotional, communication, mental, time and relational. Saying no to a work message late at night, refusing to be the permanent confidant of a loved one, or asking a manager for some quiet time to concentrate, amounts to consolidating at least one of the two pillars, love or work, when the other is faltering.
Faced with unhappiness, Gabriel Rolón offers questions rather than recipes: “Am I where I want to be? With whom do I share what I am? Does my work carry me or crush me? Do my connections heal me or make me sick?” If several answers sting, the signal is serious; talking to a doctor, psychologist or psychiatrist helps to act before the body actually becomes ill.