“HR Executives Rank Mental Illness #1 for Effect on Indirect Costs”
Innerworkings: A Look at Mental Health in Today’s Workplace Survey, May 2007

A 2006 study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry found that an employee with depression averaged 27.2 lost workdays per annum from absence or poor functioning on the job, and an employee with bipolar disorder averaged 65.5 days.

It is clear that mental illness has a huge impact on employers. It costs them billions of dollars each year from decreased productivity and lost work days.

In the “Innerworkings” survey nearly two-thirds of the Human Resources respondents estimated that at any given time, 3% or less of their employees suffer from a mental illness, and one-quarter said less than 1%.”

From the American Journal of Psychiatry study the number is actually closer to 8.2%. The Innerworkings respondents are well off the mark.

What effect does this have? Clearly CEOs and Human Resources Managers need to focus more of their attention on this immense need. It is in everyone’s best interests.

If you need to convince an employer about the problem then a good way to do it is to point to the bottom line. A tool reserved just for this purpose is the Productivity Impact Model developed by the HSM Group.

The purpose of the model, or calculator, is to give a realistic picture of how depression impacts on a company’s profitability. It takes just a few steps to calculate the amount of time and money lost, and the great thing is that the assumptions underlying the model are based on prior research studies. It’s not wild, ballpark guessing.

How does it work?

Using a company’s size, industry, location, and age / gender breakdown, it estimates the number of people in the company with depression. Then by taking a range of values for workdays missed, total wages and benefits, and additional medical costs, it provides output for days lost across the company over a year, total “replacement” costs to cater for those lost days, and total extra direct medical costs.

The output is persuasive, and it would surely get the ball rolling if placed in the right hands.

• 40% of workers reported their jobs to be very or extremely stressful
• 25% viewed their jobs as the largest source of stress in their lives
• 26% said they were often or very often burned out or stressed by work.

A study by University of Melbourne researchers last year found that job stress accounts for 1/3 of depression cases in women and up to 1/3 of cases of cadiovascular disease in men.

These are amazing statistics.

The answer to tackling stress at work is two-fold. Firstly you can push to make changes to the job itself – a big picture approach. You need to have a clear idea of what is going wrong. The following table may help if the problem isn’t readily apparent.

Try to identify the causes of your stress, and work out what you would like to change to eliminate them. If you can discuss your problem with your manager he or she may be able to make immediate changes. If the source of stress is your manager then that’s another kettle of fish! See if there are procedures in place to deal with this. If there aren’t any then perhaps you can talk to an employee representative, HR department or Employee Assistance service.

Don’t be reluctant to talk about stress at work. No employer should subject their employees to work-related stress. They should take it as seriously as you do.

Changes to You

Secondly there are changes that you can make that you have complete control over.

• Make a to-do list. Organize your work to feel more in control. It’s easy to stop worrying about a future task if you record it on a list. Only record the tasks you are definitely going to do, not the long-term projects that are always on the backburner. Make sure you include a couple of things that you’ve already done, to get you off to a good start.

• Cut down on caffeine. Caffeine gets the adrenaline hormone pumping through the body and causing “fight or flight” alertness. This is stress in itself, so it heightens any other stresses that you are also dealing with at work. Drink lots of water and keep your brain well-hydrated.

• Exercise during the day. Regular exercise decreases the production of adrenaline which reduces the stress response. As a bare minimum go for a walk outside during your lunch break. Perhaps find a new place to buy lunch a few blocks away. Exercising outside of work hours will also help to cut your stress level during the day.

• Take breaks from your computer. It sucks the life out of you, so by the end of a long day you’re feeling irritable. Get away from the computer and connect with real people every now and then.

• Slow down. Do you rush to work in the mornings? Simplify things so that you’re not over-committed and rushed. Can you get up 15 minutes earlier for a calmer trip to work?

• Don’t forget to take vacations. The company won’t collapse without you (unless you own it).

• Work shorter hours. Limit your work day to what you agreed to with your employer. Working long hours is one of the main causes of work-stress. Protect your time and say “no” to requests that place unrealistic or unreasonable demands on you.

• Rise above office gossip. Gossip is almost always negative, it brings people down and undermines relationships. Avoid difficult people. Instead find positive, energetic people to be around. Deepen friendships that are positive.

• Create a relaxation routine. When something unexpected comes up you can deal with it without being stressed. A routine may be something simple like deep breathing exercises, a quick relaxation technique, a walk around the office or outside, a trip to the water cooler or a chat with someone.

• Take mini-breaks during the day. Use your relaxation routine to good effect. Make sure that you move around away from your workspace.

In my own experience most managers are willing to make at least some changes if you present them with the problem and a solution. If stress is impacting your health then it’s a high priority, and you need to be proactive. As for the changes to your own life? They will all make a positive difference so they are well worth adding to your work day. Don’t become another statistic from stress at work!