7 conditions in which mental health problems at work are reflected

The impact of working conditions on the people’s mental health It has not stopped growing despite the efforts of some companies to improve the well-being of their employees. In the last six months the number of workers with this type of problem has grown, at least this is what seven out of 10 occupational health professionals in the country perceive.

The Survey on mental health at work prepared by the firm ADN Wellbeing in alliance with the Workplace Wellness Council Mexico shows that the strategies adopted by the companies have not been enough to stop the mental health effects of people.

From the perspective of occupational medicine professionals, the most recurring problems among the workforce as a consequence of mental health effects are:

1. Anxiety
2. physical discomfort
3. Burnout
4. Depression
5. Insomnia
6. Duel
7. Substance use such as alcohol

“In the general population we can find denialist and depressive manifestations, and actually the physical manifestations could be expressed as part of these two. But in the working population it seems that we are facing specific expressions of the mental disorders and it’s something interesting,” says Jorge Mérida, creative partner of ADN Wellbeing.

In the specific case of physical discomfort, the occupational health staff perceives them as more recurrent due to the reasons for the consultations. “For example, people who go for a headache that does not go away, nervous colitis, neck contractures, fatigue, dizziness or suddenly blurred vision. Those are the symptoms that they find and suddenly they are not generated for an organic, physical or chemical cause, and based on their clinical experience they link them to a mental health problem”.

However, occupational health specialists not only report a negative impact on workers, problems related to people’s mental well-being also affect key business indicators and they have mainly resulted in greater absenteeism, psychosocial risks, low productivity, voluntary turnover, presenteeism, economic losses and accident rates.

And while the affectations grow, the personnel in charge of workers’ health perceive that there is a lack of support to address the problems. The 32% of health professionals At work, they feel that the resources to care for illnesses are limited and 19% consider that they never have the means, knowledge and sufficient resources to deal with these situations.

Although 62% of the specialists acknowledge that their companies have deployed special measures to ensure the well-being of their employees, they give the strategies a medium rating in terms of their impact to prevent people from being affected.

In line with this, 51% of occupational health professionals state that their company offers a employee support programbut of this universe, 69% affirm that the use of this offer is low.

“These services are accessible, but not affordable. They are accessible because you just have to dial a number, but for a person with mental health problems that’s not affordable. First you would have to be aware of the disease, recognize that you have a discomfort and know that this corresponds to a health problem and, in addition, have enough motivation to call, ask for help and talk to a counselor on the other end of the line and probably call from a place where there is no privacy,” says the specialist.

Occupational health specialists who participated in the study perceive barriers to managing mental health problems in companies, the biggest challenges are:

• There is no specific budget
• Fear or prejudice of workers to receive treatment
• There is no diffusion to create awareness among collaborators
• Lack of internal policies aimed at caring for people
• Lack of training for occupational health personnel
• No access to mental health services
• Lack of company support

The Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) estimates that the lack of attention to mental health problems at work can cost companies up to 15% of payroll in economic losses.

In this sense, the startup Cuéntame calculates that for every dollar invested in the care of mental illnesses, there is a return on investment of four dollars.

Recommendations for companies

According to DNA Wellbeing, to improve the mental health of employees, companies must focus on three pillars: deepen commitment, reorganize environments and reinforce attention.

These include concrete actions, among which are:

• Promotion of inclusion
• Prioritize implications
• Increase investment
• Rearrange physical, social and economic characteristics
• Establish support networks
• Diversify care options
• Pursue affordable and accessible care for all
• People-Centered Care

The support to the occupational health areas is important because they also present affectations. The 56% of professionals of this matter consider that the workloads have increased and half of the respondents affirm that the members of their teams have had some affectation on their mental health.

“They explain that in part, decision makers do not see mental health as a priority issue. And it is important that health professionals themselves have a work overloador that sometimes does not allow them to adequately attend to these problems”, says Jorge Mérida.

In addition to this, the specialist points out that occupational health areas have a significant challenge in training, since many have been integrated with various profiles, from nursing professionals to nutrition, which makes it difficult to care for mental illnesses. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), in our country there are only 51,838 people specialized in occupational health.