HR Magazine – UK loses 17 million working days to stress, depression and anxiety

An estimated 914 thousand employees suffered with psychological ill-health regarding their work, accounting for half (51%) of all work-related ill-health instances (1.8 million) for the 12 months.

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Nick Wilson, director of well being and security providers at WorkNest, stated the onus is on employers to alleviate this pressure.

Speaking to HR journal, he stated: “Losing 17 million working days to stress, depression or anxiety is substantially worrying, but it emphasises that this should remain a key area of focus for employers, not only for their employees’ sake but for the sake of business productivity too.”

Of the 914,000 work-related stress, despair or nervousness instances, 372,000 had been new for 2021 to 2022.

Wilson added: “A collaborative approach between HR and health and safety professionals is needed to tackle this issue otherwise we are likely to see an increase over the next 12 months.”

The present charge of self-reported work-related stress, despair or nervousness is increased than pre-coronavirus ranges in 2018 to 2019.

Simon Blake, chief govt of Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England stated the rise is unsurprising.

Speaking to HR journal, he stated: “The affect of the pandemic has been powerful on us all and the intensifying cost of living crisis will solely serve to compound these stresses.

“Having stated that, one silver lining from the pandemic is that we started to speak extra freely about our psychological well being and assist each other.

“As a nation, we are on a journey to develop our understanding of mental health. We must use that understanding to create healthier workplaces and communities so we can also seek and signpost to mental health support when we need it.”

For 2021, workload pressures had been revealed to be the leading cause of reported stress, depression and anxiety.

Jamie Styles, director of individuals and tradition at Koa Health warned of workload creep within the present local weather.

“Workplace cultures can endure from workload creep, particularly when organisations have needed to react to exterior components like world financial shifts and workers turnover as a result of Great Resignation. As a consequence, annual depart might be perceived as much less of a precedence, however it is a short-term answer that causes issues in the long term. 

“HR should ensure that all staff take breaks throughout the day too; for example, making time for micro-breaks (even a few minutes) at regular intervals.”

Taking annual depart is commonly a tradition subject, Styles stated, so it is vital a wholesome work/life balance is position modelled from the highest.

He added: “While encouraging workers to take annual depart is a straightforward step to make sure that no extra individuals endure from a work-related sickness, to really deal with the present psychological well being disaster, companies want to supply workers with a collection of complete options which cowl the total spectrum of circumstances.

“This must include digital mental health tools, which employees can access round-the-clock.” 

After stress, despair or nervousness, musculoskeletal disorders had been the second most typical work-related well being subject with 477,000 individuals affected by them in 2021 to 2022.

Estimates of work-related stress, despair or nervousness and musculoskeletal issues are based mostly on self-reports from the UK’s Labour Force Survey (LFS).