Workers won't talk about it, but the work place is their greatest source of stress

Work is the number one cause of stress in people’s lives. The findings from a survey of more than 2,000 workers conducted by MIND, a UK charity, showed that 34% of people consider their jobs very stressful, causing more stress than health issues or money problems.

Dealing badly with workplace stress

This study shows that workplace stress caused 7% of those surveyed to consider suicide and one in five people to develop anxiety. As many as 10% of young workers aged 18 to 24 years old had considered suicide in connection to workplace stress. About three in five people, 57% of those surveyed, drank alcohol after work and one in seven surveyed drank alcohol during work hours. In both instances, the drinking was a mechanism for coping with work stress. Other ways included smoking, taking antidepressants, taking over the counter sleep aids, and taking prescription sleeping pills.

Fear and silence about mental health

Sick days were also attributed to work stress although 90% of those surveyed who used sick days for stress cited a different reason to their employers. About 10% of those surveyed attributed stress as a primary reason for leaving a job. Almost 20% said they could not discuss stress with their boss. And while 22% of those surveyed had been diagnosed with a mental health problem, only 10% had discussed the medical diagnosis with their work place. “The findings also show that a culture of fear and silence about stress and mental health problems is costly to employers,” stated the report from Mind.

Managers want to help

Managers in the work place said they wanted to help. Fifty-six percent said they needed more training. The same number said they would like to help more, but the company did not have a culture that prioritized employee mental health.

“Our research shows that employees are still experiencing high levels of stress at work, which is negatively impacting their physical and mental health. We know that right now, one in six workers is experiencing depression stress over anxiety and at our survey tells us that most managers don’t feel they have had enough training or guidance to support them.”

Source: MedicalNewsToday, MIND