‘SO MANY PEOPLE FEEL LIKE THEY’RE ON THE EDGE OF A BREAKDOWN’
HELEN CHANDLER-WILDE ON HOW ADDICTION AMONG CITY WORKERS HAS SPIRALLED IN LOCKDOWN
Investment bankers have a reputation for being macho, competitive and spending money as fast as they can make it. But underneath the veneer is a more complicated story: City workers have the worst mental health of anyone in the UK, according to a survey, with bankers significantly more likely to suffer from stress than the average person.
This can take a desperate toll on the body and mind. At Coq d’argent, a popular rooftop restaurant in the City of London, six people have plunged to their deaths over the years, while the new BBC Two drama Industry was inspired by the 2013 death of an overworked intern. The series picks apart how the lifestyles of finance workers – 100-hour weeks, heavy drinking and drug use – can lead to many to think they can’t cope.
“So many people feel like they’re on the edge of a breakdown,” says Zoe*, an investment banker in her 20s. “I had to restart [my] antidepressants because work was so stressful, and I know other colleagues are taking them, too.”
Real-life bankers in distress are turning to Paracelsus Recovery, a £65,000-a-week mental health treatment centre with bases in London and Zurich. Its programmes are so discreet that they only use fake names with their clients – who have included royalty, A-list celebrities and heads of state.
Many of the clientele are addicted to work and money, says Dr Marta Ra, the clinic’s chief executive. “It’s about ‘Who has a private jet? Who has a private yacht?’” she explains. “It’s like an addiction, you cannot stop.”
At least a dozen people support each of the clinic’s clients, looking after everything from their gut health to managing drug withdrawal. One of the most important people is the patient’s 24/7 companion, who is there to talk through panic attacks and dispel any urges to drink during the night.
Building this level of trust with another person can be a profound experience for City workers, many of whom are deeply lonely, says Dr Ra. People in high-flying careers have often squandered relationships by spending so much of their life at work.
Zoe describes how this toxic competitiveness affects every aspect of her career: not only do colleagues vie to be the one who spends the longest at their desk, there’s also a race to be invited for drinks with the most “popular” bankers.
Who can lift the heaviest weights in the gym is important for the men, too. In the past, status symbols might have been Cartier watches or fast cars – now it’s sports bags with your company’s logo, says Zoe: “It’s a networking thing: if you’re in the gym and see your managing director, it’s another chance to strike up a conversation.”
The drinking and partying portrayed in films like The Wolf of Wall Street can lead to a wealth of other problems, says Dr Ra – many of which have been placed under the spotlight during the pandemic.
Before Covid, it was easy to tell yourself that drinking and using drugs with your colleagues was just part of the job. In lockdown, she adds: “People who have taken substances on business trips Monday to Friday are now stuck at home, and have to do it secretly away from their partner.”
That doesn’t mean the substance use has stopped; some are finding it easier than before to get drugs in lockdown, while drinking has also spiralled. And none of this is good for the mind – heavy, regular alcohol consumption is associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Paracelsus says that the pandemic made the mental health issues of many bankers come to a head: they have seen a spike in referrals among people with depression, and a 500 per cent increase in clients suffering from relationship problems.
Working has also rocked their whole ego, which is often dependent on going into the office and having “everyone bowing down” to them, says Dr Ra.
So why does anyone stay in a career that makes them so unhappy? It’s partly because the money is almost impossible to walk away from, says Dr Ra: “They [get used to] a certain lifestyle, and it’s really hard for them to reduce.” Being used to a high salary means they’ve got caught up in financial obligations. Quitting banking might mean taking your children out of their private school and selling your home.
That doesn’t mean some aren’t trying. “I have so many other careers I would do,” says Zoe. “I want to be a teacher, a consultant, or have my own business. It’s not if I leave, but when.”
‘City egos can be dependent on having the office bow down to them’