Workplace stress affects 20% of employees

Bhubaneswar: Nearly twenty per cent of people suffer from mental health problems due to stress at the workplace, hugely impacting their productivity, speakers said at a programme, organized to mark World Mental Health Day, here on Tuesday.
“A healthy environment at the workplace is of great importance and the employer must keep in mind the mental wellness of the employee for greater productivity,” said head of psychiatry department at Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital Dr Surjeet Sahu. The programme was organized jointly by the Odisha branch of the Indian Psychiatric Society and department of psychiatry at IMS and SUM Hospital.
Speaking on the theme ‘mental health at the workplace’, Sahu said around ten per cent of the workforce failed to deliver because of depression, resulting in loss of 36 work days. Besides, nearly 70 per cent of the workers did not discuss with their colleagues or peers about their mental illness because of the stigma attached to it. “Factors like greater work load, unrealisitic deadlines, bullying and harassment lead to under achievement, anxiety and depression,” he noted.
President of the Odisha branch of IPS Dr P K Mohapatra said the organizational and managerial environment of the work place affected the skill and competence of the worker and resulted in alcohol or substance abuse. “This also has a negative fallout on the employee’s family and society.
Around 300 million people world over suffer from depression, the leading cause of disability, he pointed out, adding, promotion of mental health at the workplace was important for the organisation, society and economy. “As mental health had a direct impact on physical health, it contributes to a reduced life expectancy of 15 to 20 years,” he added.
Noted psychiatrist and former director of medical education and training Prof Gopal Chandra Kar stressed the need to spread the message that stress should be minimized at the workplace for which information, education and communication was needed. It was for the employer to ensure that the workers were provided with a workplace situation where they would feel comfortable, he added.
Consultant, Hospital Services of SOA University, Dr P K Mohanty underlined the need for the employer to understand the mental condition of an employee before formulating an opinion on the person. “What caused the employee to behave in a manner which was unusual should be inquired into before a view was taken,” he opined.
Associate professor of psychiatry Dr Rati Ranjan Sethy emphasised the need to develop a mental health policy.