Doctoral student’s research focuses on improving mental health at work
Future Alumni Award winner David Albert Newman’s experiences with harassment and discrimination at work have inspired him to push for positive change in the accounting profession
David Albert Newman was targeted for harassment after speaking openly about his mental health at work, which eventually forced him to leave his accounting position with the Government of Manitoba.
He had taken part in a national “Faces of Mental Health” campaign, with his image and story being featured in advertisements intended to show that those living with mental illness are much more than their diagnoses. He was proud to participate and shared an email with a link to the ad with his colleagues.
“Nobody said anything to me at first, but that’s when the subtle jabs started coming,” said Newman, who at the time was an internal audit project leader with the province.
Personal attacks at work
These jabs first took the form of personal attacks at work. One colleague made disparaging comments about Newman’s lunch, mockingly saying, “Oh, is that your mental health diet?” Another would consistently diminish his ambition to some day earn a doctoral degree, saying things like, “My dad says a PhD is easy,” which Newman described as a form of achievement stigma.
Colleagues even mocked the ring tone on Newman’s phone, affixing pictures of boy-band idols to his cubicle as a way to question his gender and sexuality. Still others would mock his weight gain, caused in part by the medication he was taking to address his mental health issues.
The experience affected him outside work as well, with his executive director watching his online activities and targeting him at work for things he was writing or sharing on internet forums on his own time.
Newman’s negative experiences continued, further exacerbating his mental health challenges until he ultimately went on long-term disability leave. He filed a human rights complaint for harassment and discrimination with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission, which ultimately found he had been mistreated.
The experience was obviously challenging for the winner of the 2024 Future Alumni Award—which recognizes the leadership, service, and potential of a current Athabasca University student. But it also forms the basis of his thesis work in the online Doctor of Business Administration program, research that could one day help others realize their highest potential.
Improving mental health in the workplace
Newman’s thesis work is an auto-ethnography, meaning he’s connecting his own personal experiences to broader cultural, political, and social understanding of the kinds of things he experienced.
With this qualitative research he plans to use his own story, along with others’ similar stories, to better understand workplace issues like job design, compensation practices, and anti-harassment policies in the accounting profession—and to make recommendations for improvements.
In particular, he would like to see more organizations acknowledge that mental health is not just an individual responsibility, but rather a collective accountability. This means organizations have a responsibility to take care of their employees in terms of their mental health.
“That’s what I’m trying to focus on in my thesis,” Newman said. “I’ll present what my narrative was in terms of the bad experiences, see if there are similarities with what other people have experienced, and what is the action plan to make sure this never happens again.”
Struggling to get a diagnosis, treatment
Newman’s struggles with his mental health began long before he ever had a formal diagnosis. He had always been a strong student—with the exception of a period in high school when he said he fell in with a bad crowd.
But toward the end of the bachelor of commerce program he was taking, he began to have hallucinations, thinking the posters in his bedroom were watching him, and he was hospitalized.
He was diagnosed with depression and given medication, but not counselling. His psychiatrist at the time did not believe he had schizoaffective disorder, either.
“I was telling them the symptoms I was having, about the hallucinations and how it was so bad I wanted to poke my eyes out,” he said. “I still wasn’t diagnosed.”
It wasn’t until five years later that he was properly diagnosed and prescribed anti-psychotic medication, which he said has helped immensely. But before being diagnosed, he found that working with a community counsellor with the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) in Manitoba really began to make an impact for him. He had found someone willing to share her lived experience and who could relate to his.
“I owe my life to that woman,” he said. “I was suicidal when I first started seeing her. Without her, I probably wouldn’t even be here.”
AU student driven to volunteer
Seeing the benefit of CMHA’s work first-hand in his own life was an inspiration for Newman to dedicate much of his time and energy to volunteer work with this and other organizations dedicated to helping people.
“I found that volunteering for mental health organizations, low-income organizations, and legal organizations fits with my mantra of just being a co-operative person and helping others,” he said.
Whenever there was an opportunity to help, he would sign up. At one point he was serving on the boards of four different volunteer organizations at once. It was too much.
These efforts have earned Newman some volunteerism awards over the years, but more importantly volunteering helps him to know he’s making positive contributions and helping society.
Finding support through AU's commitment to access
Newman’s focus for his DBA research is an extension of his drive to make positive change in the world, and in particular for those struggling with mental-health stigma and the related issues that come with mental-health challenges—economic, social, and legal.
He was drawn to AU because of the university’s commitment to removing barriers to education. AU’s flexibility allowed him to continue working while pursuing a degree and gave him the flexibility to focus his research on a topic about which he’s so personally passionate.
While he has excelled academically at AU—earning top marks in his DBA classes—he said he has also seen a huge benefit from the Accessibility Services team helping him to arrange accommodations that support his learning despite the challenges associated with his mental health.
“The only place that’s ever provided me with reasonable accommodation is Athabasca University,” Newman said. “It’s like night and day, compared with other programs.”
The only place that’s ever provided me with reasonable accommodation is Athabasca University. It’s like night and day, compared with other programs. David Newman
Finding strength in neurodiversity
Despite the challenges associated with Newman’s diagnoses, he sees a lot of advantages as well.
“It also adds a lot of creativity. With my particular neurodiversity, I tend to think a lot outside the box,” he said. “I make a point of trying to think differently about things.”
These traits help him to make contributions in his volunteer and professional roles, but also to take creative approaches to his academic research and writing.
Once he has completed his program at AU, Newman said he hopes to bring his creativity, passion, and expertise to an academic role so that he can continue his work making positive change in the business world with his research—and maybe inspire his students to also contribute to this kind of positive change as in their own right.
Visit Newman’s website to learn more about his work, and get involved with his research if you have a similar story to share.
Meet Athabasca University’s 2024 Alumni Award winners
Get to know other inspiring AU alumni from this year’s award winners.
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