Healthy Monday: How Your Work Is Affecting Your Mental Health

Shocking statistics about mental health problems at work, and how you can cope better with the stress

 

While the spectrum of mental illness is hugely varied and complex, one element that is too often dismissed or downplayed is stress.

Stress is a form of mental ill-health that can be caused by any number of things, one of the most common of these is work.

Some of the stats from the Mental Health Foundation explain the extent of the problem:

According to the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health – now known as the Centre for Mental Health - (2007), mental health problems are a major cause of presenteeism, which can be described as the practice of remaining in work, even when an employee is unwell, resulting in decreased productivity.

A 2008 review commissioned by the Health Work and Wellbeing Programme highlighted that symptoms associated with mental health problems (e.g. sleep problems, fatigue, irritability and worry) affect one sixth of the working-age population of Great Britain at any one time and can impair a person’s ability to function at work.

A 2006 meta-analysis exploring the associations between psychosocial work stressors and common mental health problems found that; 1. high demands at work, 2. reduced autonomy in decision making, 3. high efforts and 4. low rewards often resulted in stress, and were associated with common mental health problems.

- THINGS YOU CAN USE TO HELP YOU COPE -

THE APP

While we still love Headspace, we're going to suggest something a little different.

Try Karmic, the daily deed app - this gives you small, achievable tasks that encourage you to help those around you.

One example is to not complain for the entire day - it's good for you, your desk neighbour and in turn your stress levels.

THE BOOK

If you get home from work wound up tighter than a jar of muscle man's protein powder, it's time to take up colouring.

THE PODCAST

The Mental Health foundation has a selection of podcasts for all manner of issues including Stress and Relaxation: The Full Works, designed to give you techniques for dealing with every day pressures.

Credit:Women's Health