State of workplace mental health by Hidoc Dr
Abstract
Mental health problems are less known and stigmatized and hence remain unreported, eruption of silent mental health-related issues at the workplace shows detrimental effects not only on the employee but also on the overall productivity and organizational output. Inquisitive monitoring of the employee’s mental health condition is the key to identifying deviation and introducing the right intervention. With unconditioned support at the workplace, the affected employee can manage to gain back control over their life and handle the mental health dysfunction more maturely and comfortably. It is the mandatory responsibility of the workplace authority to take the best care of the employee’s mental health and offer a good psychological workplace to improve the quality of life securely and sensibly.
Introduction
Normally physical illnesses get much attention mostly due to their visible symptoms but silent mental illnesses remain ignored regardless of their subtle symptomatic progression within the body. Good health is not just an absence of diseases but it is also the individuals to handle the daily stressors and become a valuable source of work productivity. A healthy state of mind comprises normal mood changes, a calm and peaceful nature, workability, sound sleep patterns, and feeling physically fit.
Mental illness is characterized by uncontrolled mood variations, thoughts and behavior patterns, anger outbursts, aggression, anxiety, panic attacks, inability to sleep, and feeling physically ill.
An individual may experience a variety of mental states throughout their lifetime, an optimistic mental state when they feel satisfied and happy, problematic mental health when they experience stress and inability to cope with daily stressors, and mental illness when they are unable to handle their stress. It starts impacting their life functioning and quality.
Mental health issues are more stigmatized compared to physical illnesses and this contributes to keeping mental illness under the warp till ages until and unless they start showing as physical health illness symptoms and start affecting daily living and work productivity. Mental health problems and associated illnesses at the workplace affect the overall productivity and work culture. So, there is an immediate need to understand the deep-seated mental health conditions at work employees, causes, signs, and easy ways to handle them timely and maturely.
Usual mental health problems at the workplace
- Persistent stress and strain cause fatigue, anxiety, unsound sleep quality, below-optimum performance, and symptoms of depression. It occurs when an individual is consistently exposed to a stressor that stimulates the sympathetic nervous system-mediated psychological and physical over-activation.
- Burnout is a state of emotional disbalance that occurs due to chronic stress-induced physical exhaustion. It is undiagnosable and many times not considered as a medical illness condition. Burnout is mostly represented as emotional fatigue, pessimistic, and detached.
- Depression is also known as a mood disorder with the presence of continuous feelings of sadness, lack of interest and disengagement at work, poor concentration, unsatisfied interpersonal relationships, and sink-in work performance. Depression is curable with the introduction time suitable interventions and therapies.
- Anxiety disorders can be accounted for by continuous feelings of fear, worry, and tension which hinder normal functioning abilities, including symptoms like excessive fear, muscular stiffness, irritation, tiredness, restlessness, and inability to calm down or concentrate and control ongoing worries. It also makes the individual avoid or try to avoid stressors which increases symptom intensity.
- Sometimes substance abuse such as alcohol consumption and other harmful addictive substance intake affects the brain and leads to loss of control and inability to fulfill work-related commitments efficiently.
- Less prevalent but relevant severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder also hamper positive work outcomes at the workplace
The effect of mental health problems in the workplace
Long-term ill effects of untreated poor mental health at work include lack of enthusiasm is doing work, absenteeism, dysfunctional communication skills and interpersonal relationships, low work commitment, dissatisfaction with life, irregular sleep, low immunity level, and increased susceptibility to chronic lifestyle diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and hormonal disbalance.
Constant unhappiness from work leads to frequent job changes, a generation of tendency not to fulfill given responsibilities, the rise of adverse safety issues and errors due to loss of control,
In extreme cases, there is a chance of suicidal tendency eruption in employees with chronic mental health problems. Individuals who survive suicidal attempts entangle themselves in depression, trauma, rejection, and guilt which cumulatively leads to poor work quality and emotional distress among colleagues.
Subtle signs of mental health problems at the workplace
Inquisitive recognition of mental health problem warning signs helps the superiors to manage and offer appropriate supportive interventions to the affected employees. It is ideal to observe these signs and intervene and help the individual to manage the mental health problem in a more mature healthy way. It is very crucial to identify the mental health problems at an earlier stage only so that interventions can be offered and further progression of the mental health-damaging condition can be prohibited.
Mental health problems alarming signs are
- Developing a tendency to cry and complain which shows emotional distress
- Low socially inclined interactions, less work-related efforts, and feeling withdrawal always
- Reaching late work and taking frequent sudden leaves
- Indulging in extreme behaviors such as living with poor hygiene and trying to harm self
Interventions to promote workplace-related mental health wellness
Regular incorporation of positive enforcement among employees helps them to attain their work goals and fulfills the internal requirements of belongingness, competence, and self-determination. All these constant positive motivations instigate personal growth and development.
Prevention of mental health problems is the first necessary step to implementing remedies as it aids in enhancing the finding of a delicate balance between job stressors and mental peace.
Interventions are mandatory as soon as a mental health problem in an employee is detected as it helps increase the accessibility to resources like psychological counseling, training, and other occupational therapies. It also reduces the burden of mental health problem stigma and opens the door to accepting support to get out of the entanglement of mental health discomforts.
Accommodations such as workplace programs and policies including stay-at-work options and return-to-work plans can help the mental health problem-affected employees to get a chance to improve their conditions and get back to the normal pace of mental health life.
The right kind of leadership of the supervisor can help the employee to get inspired, start thinking creatively, improve self-sufficiency, and be in more control and self-determined. Additionally, good leadership will increase employee involvement, development, and interpersonal coordination, build trust and respect among the workgroup, equip them to handle stress more maturely, and reduce unavoidable strain.
Work can be used to give an important meaning to life, especially the employees who are facing mental health problems. Work accomplishment improves fulfilment and satisfaction feeling which leads to positive personal growth. It also helps to be in the present moment, forget the past hurt and future worries, build healthy connections with others establish a better realization of responsibilities, and secure an improved self-esteem, psychological well-being, and optimistic identity.
Unconditioned social support is the key to reducing stress and strain on the employee and associated psychological signs and symptoms. The right kind of healthy support from the supervisor and colleagues may assist the employee in coping, making the right decision, and offering adequate resources to manage stress. It also brings a sense of belongingness and acceptance in the mental health problem affected employee and decreases the urge to isolate and feel depressed and anxious.
Self-determination can be developed in the employees by helping them to understand their strengths which will assist them to self-express in a better way and motivate them to lead a more accomplished and satisfied life. This will help improve the overall decision-making and work output of the team.
Efforts should be made by the management to offer a healthy psychological workplace to their employees, which is meaningful, enjoyable, and ethnically correct, inculcates work factors that build a positive mental health environment and restrict the stressors that cause mental health dysfunctions among the employees. Special attention should be given to offering a good work-life balance, timely appropriate recognition, an adequate amount of employee involvement, needed growth and development, and enhanced physical and mental health.
Conclusion
In the current scenario of an excessively busy life, an additional constant work-related demand creates havoc in life’s internal mental state affecting the mental balance of the employees. Internal turmoil to cope and manage daily unavoidable stressors is reducing self-control, workability, and stress management skills and making life undesirably unsatisfied. Chronically attaching to the feeling of insured self-worthlessness leads to anxiety and depression which further establishes major mental health-related complications. Prompt identification of alarming mental health issues in the employees and availing the right kind of psychological and emotional support can help reduce the harmful effects of dreadful silent mental health difficulties. Workplace management and superiors should understand the common mental health issues in their organizational perspective, take immediate corrective actions to minimize the negative consequences, and work collectively towards constructing a healthier workplace environment.
References
- Annu. Rev. Organ. Psychol. Organ. Behav. 2023.10:363-387. Mental Health in the Workplace. Mental Health in the Workplace. Published March 11, 2023. Accessed February 27, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-120920-050527