The Unseen Scars: A Personal Story and Our Commitment to Well-Being

October 10 is World Mental Health Day, and this year’s theme is “Access to Services – Mental Health in Catastrophes and Emergencies.” This topic resonates deeply with me, not just as a leader in safety but as someone who has experienced firsthand the profound mental toll that a tragedy can take. My name is Adam Wilcox, and I am the Manager of Health and Safety at Mercer Peace River.

Before I joined Mercer, I was a correctional officer. It was a high-stress environment where I was constantly on the front lines of emergencies. I also volunteered with a fire department. You train for the worst-case scenario, you run drills, you learn the procedures. But when the worst happens, it’s entirely different. You’re never truly prepared for the emotional weight.

I experienced this firsthand in 2022 when we lost a contractor in a shutdown. The emotional fallout was immediate and lasting. I was trying to coordinate the response, the investigation, and the communication, all while everyone around me—and I was no exception—was dealing with shock, guilt, and fear. You can’t help but ask yourself,

“Could I have done more? Did I miss something? Could I have prevented this?”

That guilt is a constant companion.

In our industry, there’s a certain culture of toughness. People often struggle to express when they’re not okay. In the aftermath of the incident, we brought in professional mental health support. We brought in psychologists to help our team process what we had seen and felt. It was a crucial step because if you can’t talk about it, you carry it, and that can break you.

This experience is a constant reminder of why mental health is a core part of our safety culture at Mercer. We believe that caring for our people means providing holistic support—physically, financially, and mentally. To ensure our team has the resources they need, we offer comprehensive support through our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and other benefits that provide access to mental health services.

We also use technology to make these resources accessible to everyone. Our internal Google Drive is supplemented with a dedicated folder where we provide articles, videos, and guides on various aspects of mental well-being, from stress management to building resilience. We have also developed and shared a guide on “Working Through Change” to help our teams navigate challenging periods. This digital library allows our team members to access trusted information from their phones or computers, whenever they need it, in a private and confidential way.

Mental health support isn’t a luxury; it’s a critical service, especially in the face of an emergency or a catastrophe. Whether it’s a natural disaster, a workplace accident, or a global crisis, the trauma can have a devastating impact on individuals and communities. Access to mental health services is not just about healing after the fact; it’s about building resilience and ensuring people have the tools to cope.