World Mental Health Day 2024: Mental health problems are increasing among employees, what is the reason?

Mental health problems remain a cause of serious concern globally. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) report, in the year 2019, more than 970 million (97 lakh) people worldwide suffered from mental health disorders, of which diseases like anxiety and depression are the most prominent.

According to statistics, one in every six people may have some kind of mental health problem. These conditions can reduce the lifespan of victims by up to 10 years compared to the general population. There is also a risk of serious impact on physical health due to mental health problems.

Health experts say that cases of mental health disorders are increasing rapidly among people working in the office. In some recent reports, cases of death were also reported due to this.

World Mental Health Day is celebrated every year on 10 October to educate and make people aware about mental health and to remove the sense of social stigma. This year's theme is - It's time to prioritize mental health at the workplace. Let's understand this in detail.

Increasing mental health problems in the workplace

Health experts say that more than 50% of the population is at risk of mental health problems in their lifetime. One-third of Americans say that work pressure and workplace-related problems adversely affect their mental health. 80% say they often feel stressed during work.

The American Psychological Association has confirmed in a survey conducted on these problems that taking care of psychological health should be a high priority for employees. The report reveals a worrying rate of burnout among female employees, according to which more than one-third of women complain of burnout.

Burnout and mental health problems among employees
Burnout is a condition different from stress in which employees are unable to work at their normal level, due to which the quality of work is affected as well as this situation is also considered to increase mental pressure. In a survey conducted in the year 2022, 44% of employers saw many types of mental health problems increasing among employees.

The report shows that conditions like working long or irregular hours, work-life balance being affected, excessive workload on employees are increasing mental health problems. Apart from this, most employees worry about losing their jobs, this is also having a negative impact on mental health.

What do psychiatrists say?

In a conversation with Amar Ujala, Bhopal-based senior psychiatrist Dr Satyakant Trivedi says, to reduce the increasing mental health problems among employees, office management should take care of some things. It should be ensured that all employers take care of the mental health of their employees. This will increase the productivity of employees which is directly linked to the growth of that company.

Along with this, just like health checkups are done regularly in offices, mental health screening should also be done in the same way. These changes are very important to control the increasing mental health problems.

Simplification of mental health screening is necessary
Dr Satyakant says, it is important to check the mental health of employees, but it is also important to simplify this process. This will make people come forward for self-examination and remove the feeling of stigma. For example, if an employee has depression, then it may seem that my condition can affect the company, due to which many people do not come forward for diagnosis. By adopting a professional attitude and simplifying the screening, it can be made easier to detect mental health problems in employees and get treatment.

(PC: Freepik)