Today, October 10, 2024, we recognize World Mental Health Day under the theme "Mental Health at Work". The World Health Organization informs us that 60% of the global population is at work. Mental health and the workplace are inextricably linked. We often see work as an extension of our identity, and it shapes our sense of self. We are therefore compelled to pay attention to the effects of unsafe and harmful work environments on our mental health.
Systemic Factors Impacting Mental Health in the Workplace
Negative Stigma
Despite the many steps forward we've taken to have more open conversations about our mental health, it continues to be stigmatized, particularly in the workplace. Discussions about mental health in the workplace often raise questions about competence and skill, which increases fears of demotion and/or termination. As a result, workers often shy away from advocating for adjusted working conditions or seeking support to address mental health needs.
Precarious Job Stability
Shifts in the global economy have led to a tough job market, resulting in workers having to navigate difficult working conditions in order to keep their current employment. The risk of losing financial stability and predictability is weighed against one's capacity to cope with an unhealthy workplace culture. Often, that risk is deemed to high to "rock the boat" of a toxic, yet already familiar work environment.
Harassment and Discrimination
Statistics Canada defines workplace harassment as:
objectionable or unwelcome conduct, comments or actions by an individual at any event or location related to work, which can reasonably be expected to offend, intimidate, humiliate or degrade the person experiencing them. It also includes inappropriate sexualized behaviour, discriminatory behaviour and sexual assault.
Data from Statistics Canada tells us that 31% of men, and 47% of women experience sexual assault in the workplace.
The Canadian Labour Congress, along with researchers from the University of Toronto and University of Western Ontario released a report in 2022 highlighting troubling facts about harassment and violence in the workplace, including:
over 71% of survey respondents reported experiencing some form of workplace harassment or violence in the two years prior to the survey
Indigenous survey respondents experienced significantly higher rates of harassment and violence (79%)
63% of workers reported having to miss work due to the negative impact of harassment and violence.
Organizational Factors Impacting Mental Health
Overtime Culture
Sometimes the culture of an organization celebrates and rewards employees who work beyond designated work hours. In such a culture, "switching off" after work, taking breaks (to which one is entitled), and using allotted vacation and sick days for their designated purpose tend to be frowned upon. This places significant pressure on employees to work beyond their physical and mental capacity.
Unrealistic Workload/Output Expectations
Employers sometimes set productivity targets without taking into consideration whether or not conditions (external or internal to the organizaiton) would reasonably facilitate these goals. Unmet goals can weigh heavily on employees, not only due to implications on general workplace performance, but also due to the impact on one's perceived sense of self and feelings of failure and/or accomplishment.
Passive Approach to Harassment and Discrimination
Some work environments treat harassment and discrimination passively, allowing for lax attitudes and behaviour when it comes to sexual harassment/sexual assault, as well as racist, sexist, and bigoted language and attitudes. Failure to immediately address serious and valid concerns sends the message to workers that their concerns are:
of no value to the organization
representative of a personal/moral failure or
not significant enough to warrant serious action.
These attitudes engender feelings of shame and isolation, further eroding employees' morale and psychological safety in the workplace.
Individual Factors Affecting Mental Health
Exposure to Multiple Stressors
Workers are multidimensional beings, carrying out responsibilities associated with multiple roles such as parent, caregiver, volunteer, advocate, etc. Fulfilling these responsibilities can be stressful, increasing one's vulnerability to stress at work.
Past Trauma and Self-limiting Beliefs
Past traumatic events sometimes establish narratives that are not adaptive (not suitable) to current contexts. Sometimes these past experiences consolidate beliefs about one's self that is so deeply entrenched, they create limitations regarding a person's perceived capacity to take risks, learn new things, or create new relationships. These factors would undoubtedly impact a person's work experience, particularly in roles that require learning and integrating new information, establishing and maintaing key stakeholder relationships, or innovating to move the organization forward. When presented with these factors, self-limiting beliefs can result in catastrophization (always thinking about the worst-case scenario) or black-and-white thinking (inability to explore and understand the nuances in any given context). This can be incredibly stressful, and can significantly erode one's mental capacity to cope in the work environment.
Where Do We Go From Here?
Organizations and individuals have the shared responibility of safeguarding the mental health of the workforce, starting with being strong advocates against systemic factors such as harassment, discrimination, and negative towards mental health that perpetuate the erosion of workers' capacity to maintain a healthy well-being.
Organizations have the responsibility of establishing and adhering to policies and practices that create safe and healthy work enviornments that promote both the productivity (eg. through proper training, providing appropriate and sufficient staffing), as well as the mental health of their workforce (eg. respecting breaks, time off, mental health/sick days).
Individual workers also have the responsibility of paying attention to, and taking care of their mental health by engaging protective, healthy practices. This would look like:
taking care of their physical health through proper diet, physical activity and rest
making time to enjoy hobbies and interests
going to therapy to address underlying factors currently impacting their well-being.
On this #WorldMentalHealthDay, let us take our conversation about mental health in the workplace a step further by making a committment to taking the appropriate actions that effectively recognize its value.
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If you would like to discuss your therapeutic needs, and would like to explore the possibility of starting therapy, feel free to contact Heartspring Therapy by calling 416-688-5274, or by booking a free initial consult at heartspringtherapy.ca/book-online. In-person and video therapy sessions are available.
If you are having thoughts of suicide or self harm, or having strong urges to harm someone else, please contact 911, a crisis line, or go to the nearest hospital. You may also contact the Mental Health distress line by dialling 9-8-8.
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REFERENCES AND RESOURCES
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