Ilma’s husband burned out: “It was a poisoned promotion”

2024-02-15T04:10:31.875Z

Highlights: Ilma’s husband burned out: “It was a poisoned promotion”. Nicolas Choffel's life changes the day he gets a new position with a considerable workload. A situation which pushed him to end his life in February 2013. His wife, Ilma, agreed to tell this story to Olivier Delacroix in this episode of the podcast “Dans les yeux d'Olivier” produced by Europe 1 Studio. In five years, it would have experienced 200 suicides likely to be linked to work.

Nicolas Choffel's life changes the day he gets a new position with a considerable workload. A situation which pushed him to end his life in February 2013. His wife, Ilma Choffel, agreed to tell this story to Olivier Delacroix in this episode of the podcast “Dans les yeux d'Olivier” produced by Europe 1 Studio. In November 2012, Nicolas Choffel was appointed communications director of La Poste. The atmosphere is heavy in the company. In five years, it would have experienced 200 suicides likely to be linked to work. For Nicolas, the responsibility of this new position is synonymous with a heavy workload and the man works tirelessly, with the aim of being, as agreed, promoted... But quickly, the father of the family is overworked by the numerous tasks he must accomplish, the stress, the overtime and the lack of vacation. Cramps, hair loss, gastric problems, the father's body can no longer keep up. He quickly lost 18 kilos and despite the warning signs of burnout, the company did not react. After a doctor's diagnosis and work stoppage, Nicolas still received 1,500 emails, 110 calls and around fifty SMS messages from his work. One day, that's one message too many. The body of Nicolas Choffel was found lifeless at his home by his wife, his phone thrown a few meters away. For his wife and daughter, it is the start of a long battle. In 2021, La Poste was then condemned for inexcusable misconduct, for failing to fulfill its obligation to protect Nicolas' health. In this episode of the podcast “Dans les yeux d'Olivier” produced by Europe 1 Studio, Ilma Choffel talks about her husband's burnout and her actions to advance the treatment of this syndrome.