Skip to main content

Workplace Stress Anxiety Depression

The workplace should be a significant source of positive experiences boosting our self-esteem, sense of accomplishment, and professional growth.  For many, this is the case.

However, there is a growing number of people (both employees and leaders) who suffer with mental health problems, primarily depression and anxiety.

The World Health Organization estimates that lost productivity to mental illness costs $1 trillion per year to the global economy.

A recent development in this area is burnout which has been classified as an occupational phenomenon due to stress, disengagement, cynicism, fatigue, and other typical toxic work environment factors.

In this post, I'd like to highlight some things companies do that may not be apparent to the professional environment but most definitely contributes to the increase of mental health issues in the workplace.

I think we would decrease a significant amount of mental illness if we just cut out the mixed messages.  Here are a few examples.

job posts set up for failure  - 'work/life balance', 'ability to handle pressure', 'multi-tasking'
interestingly, my twitter post on this got a lot of views with this image that I got from a random job post (but found it very common)


empty 'leadership' talk - big words like vision, mission, strategy, and plan do not mean a thing unless they are put into action and directly affect people's lives

bad/lacking managers - companies allow substandard managers in key (or any) positions
subject matter expertise, large number of contacts/connections, success in previous companies, credentials, and the likes DO NOT make a person a good manager

euphemism -  team-player (you just have to deal with people), multi-tasking (you can't drop the ball), self-starter (you are on your own)

More to come...


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Functional but Blue

Many of us with depression are highly functional which makes it even more difficult to decide on getting help. You don't have to go very far to see what I mean.  Michael Phelps is arguably the greatest swimmer in history and also a spokesperson for talkspace , an online platform that offers convenient and affordable therapy. Functional doesn't mean healthy! Finding joy in our everyday activities, looking forward to the next hour and things that are coming, waking up with drive, and feeling no dread/fear/anxiety about what's coming is where your life could be... so start walking the depression road one step at the time. Tip: Put yourself to the test! 1. Ask yourself each evening what portion of the day you spent feeling that you did chores (this is not the activity but the general feeling of having to do rather than wanting to do). 2. Keep tabs for two week. 3. If you spend more than half of your time this way, it is time to change something and feel better. Only
Post a Comment
Read more

Depression with Bidirectional Illnesses

Depression with Bidirectional Illnesses I've said this before... depression doesn't walk alone in most cases. The importance of this cannot be emphasized enough because the coexistence of conditions often lead to worsening conditions. The constant exposure/experience of the simultaneous illnesses often end up in competition for attention which feed the cycle and make things worse for both (or multiple conditions). While I cannot list all combinations in this post, I'd like to illustrate the point with some common occurrences. Depression and Insomnia It has been proven by research that insomnia is a huge risk factor for depression as well as a consequence of depression. This is not hard to understand. In layman terms, those of us who don't get enough sleep often experience lack of energy, memory problems, and a host of other symptoms that make normal functioning of body and mind difficult on a daily basis. The frustration with not being able to do all the thing
Post a Comment
Read more

Exercise is Natural Medicine for Depression

I know what some will say... I just can't get myself moving.  If you need motivation, here is a reason why.  Exercise increases neurotransmitters, the stuff in the brain responsible for regulating physical and mental well being. Here is some research you can read. For my money, you don't have to be an athlete or exhaust yourself to get some benefit from exercise.  Start slow and small, then increase intensity as you get better.  The most important thing is to do something every day so you body develops a 'need' for moving.  I'd say you'll feel that 'need' in about 3 weeks at which point it becomes easier to get going.  Developing this healthy habit will help with your depression. Many will also say that exercise takes time which they don't have.  As my mother said, "you have time for what you make time for".  You can do something just about anywhere! If you think that exercising requires money, I'll show you how you can get in sh
Post a Comment
Read more