How Hospitality Industry Leaders Are Normalizing and Prioritizing Mental Health

By Kate Dingwall

In the hospitality industry, crying in the walk-in is a rite of passage. 

Current and former service staff endure it all—burnout, bad customers and toxic bosses that are “just part of the job,” or so they are told. Then there’s the long hours, low pay and rampant mental health issues.

The pain points of bar and restaurant industry culture hit a fever-pitch during the pandemic, when hospitality staff turned into frontline workers. Stress rose to potentially dangerous levels. Staffing shortages worsened. According to the U.S. National Restaurant Association, the industry lost 2.5 million workers.

Bar workers, in particular, are tired. According to one study, 89% of bartenders have high levels of work-related anxiety. 92% reported difficulties maintaining personal relationships, while 68% experience symptoms of depression. 

Increasingly, the drinks industry isn’t willing to sweep these symptoms under the rug. Groups like Southern Smoke and Focus on Health are providing therapy, education and emergency funds to make the beverage space a more sustainable place to work.

We talked to the trailblazers who are bringing mental health to the forefront. 

Building Funds and Relationships

Southern Smoke started in 2017, after Hurricane Harvey ripped through Houston. “We realized there was all this money being raised, but none of it was going to bartenders, sommeliers or dishwashers,” says co-founder Lindsey Brown. 

The organization rallied and redirected funds. Any food and beverage worker who had been in the field for over six months became eligible for emergency funds—and still is. 

That includes vineyard workers, bottling line employees, sommeliers, beverage distributors and distillery staff. “If the food and beverage industry cannot exist without you, we will fund you and give you access to our resources,” says Brown.

Southern Smoke’s initial emergency relief program quickly expanded from natural disasters to any mental and physical emergencies that hospitality workers face. As Brown puts it: “Everything from getting your bike stolen to domestic violence situations, evictions, natural disasters and major medical diagnoses.”

In 2018, following the death of Anthony Bourdain, the organization realized emergency funds weren’t enough. So they brought together a brain trust—a round table of chefs and, importantly, a therapist to unpack what’s going on in the industry and how they can help. 

By far the biggest need? Mental health services. Southern Smoke now partners with university psychology departments to provide grants in exchange for therapy slots for food and beverage workers. Industry members get 20 free sessions, which roll into a sliding scale program—around $15 to $25 a session, for life. 

As of December 2024, 108 hospitality members had completed the program. 140 workers are currently receiving therapy. If they need a higher level of care, the emergency relief program can jump in to cover inpatient drug and alcohol counseling. 

Beyond funding, the biggest issue is stigma. “Most people in our program have either never had therapy or have not had therapy in more than five years because of financial barriers,” says Brown. “But if one person gets funded, we see so many more applications from their peers come through.”

Supporting Sobriety 

The issue with addressing mental health in bars and restaurants is that there’s no quick solution; most of the problems are structural. For individuals who do seek help, successful treatment can take years. 

Brown finds that people are mainly coming to Southern Smoke’s mental health program for post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, work-related burnout, after-work substance misuse and relationship issues.

Alex Jump, the co-founder of Focus on Health, believes that promoting “wellness” is so much bigger than encouraging healthy habits: it extends to addressing wage theft, creating systems that support paid time off and sick pay and eliminating the sub-minimum wage. “There are seven states in the U.S. where tipped employees are paid $2.13 an hour,” says Jump.

Addiction is also a big issue—and a tricky one to navigate in a profession that offers easy access to alcohol. The industry can be a black hole, drawing workers in with the promise of tips and flexible hours and sucking them into a syphon of late-nights and strong drinks. Hospitality has the highest rate of illicit drug and substance use disorder, and the third highest for binge drinking. 

“One of the biggest challenges for drinks professionals is balancing well-being with the demands of the job, like long hours, high stress and a culture where drinking and illicit drug use is often the norm,” says Jump. “It’s easy to put our own health last.”

She’s speaking from experience. When Jump developed tendonitis in 2019, she withdrew from work, which eventually led her to launch Focus on Health with award-winning bartender LP O’Brien.

Now, they offer harm reduction training and non-alcoholic beverage consulting, in addition to piloting overdose prevention training.

They also organize run and walk clubs. “It brings people together, gets them moving and opens the floor to networking,” says Joshua Gandee, a partner at Focus on Health and host of the no proof podcast.

They also have a roving no- and low-alcohol bar, which pops up at industry events (like Tales of the Cocktail) and in major cities (in the future: Mexico City, San Diego, Montreal) to amplify the message that community and enjoyment doesn’t need to hinge on drinking alcoholic beverages.

“There are still people who believe you must hit rock bottom before you can begin to rebuild,” says Gandee.

Prioritizing ‘Human Sustainability’

When Steve Palmer started in the industry, he was working seven days a week and staying out till dawn, fueling his days with an all-consuming addiction. Then his boss gave him two options: go to rehab, or quit. 

He chose the former. Now, Palmer oversees Charleston’s Indigo Road Hospitality Group and runs Ben’s Friends, which he co-founded after his long-time friend died by suicide after a long struggle with alcoholism. 

His past has helped him become a staunch advocate for his staff. IRHG maintains an alcohol-free workplace—including no shift drinks—in an effort to be an emotionally, spiritually and physically safe environment.

Employees have access to free mental health counseling, paid time off (including additional days for volunteering) and discounted rates for athletic clubs.

“We believe it is critical that cost not inhibit our teams from having access to mental healthcare,” says Palmer. They also have an employee home loan program, which has issued 13 home loans at zero interest. “We have been talking about sustainability for years. Now, we are focusing on human sustainability.” 

In addition to company-funded health, dental and vision (along with long-term disability), Nashville’s Noko and Kase x Noko provide staff with free access to online therapists. “Therapy has been a large part of my own journey in recovery,” says the restaurant’s founder Jon Murray, who is six years sober. “Noko and Kase would not be here today without therapy.”

Their employee benefits also include paid vacation for full-time employees, free yoga, four-day work weeks and a yearly travel stipend (padded by diverting 1% of all sales). Down the line? Cost-free childcare and health-insurance.

Employees are into it—turnover is 14.5%, compared to the 75% industry standard. “But for me, the most powerful thing is seeing our people healthy, happy, more connected with friends and family, working less and traveling more,” says Murray. 

Amplifying Allyship and Education

Sam Hart, chef-founder of the Charlotte tasting menu restaurant Counter, offers their staff three weeks of paid vacation, employer contributions towards health insurance (including mental health) and education reimbursement. Now, all front-of-house staff become certified sommeliers. “Instead of just one person teaching everything, it’s increased not just the knowledge, but camaraderie,” they say.

Grape Witches, which has two wine bars-slash-bottle shops-slash-educational hubs in Toronto, runs a scholarship program for the BIPOC community to pursue careers in the wine industry. The hope? Diversify their crowds and lower the industry’s barriers to entry.

Jump points out that the majority of hospitality workers are from marginalized backgrounds: women, people of color and queer folks. 

“Wellness doesn’t just mean that you should be working out and eating healthy,” says Jump. “It also means that we should be supporting the professional development of marginalized people in our industry. Ensure they have a seat at the table and are able to move into leadership and ownership positions.”

Initiatives like 86 Harassment offer around-the-clock, industry-specific support lines in partnership with the anti-sexual violence organization RAINN. The hotline provides emotional support, a friendly ear and information about options for medical care, including resources specific to survivors of sexual assault. 

86 Harassment also offers free online training for employers and employees, including on de-escalation and allyship.

“To not include mental health elements in conversations makes no sense to me,” says Hart. “Mental health is health.”