On 10 October 2024, we celebrated World Mental Health Day with the theme ‘It is Time to Prioritize Mental Health in the Workplace’. The overall objective of the mental health day is to make awareness about the mental health issues around the world, to reduce stigma and discrimination against the persons with mental illnesses.This year’s theme is about prioritizing mental health in the workplace, as this can’t be overlooked any longer. Problems in the workplace can not only lead to reduced work capacity but also create an economic burden.

It doesn’t matter what is your profession, your feelings about it, or how long you’ve been in the job, when it comes to stress no one is immune to it. In order to perform better, most of us overwork ourselves which can be fatal for our physical and mental health.There are lot stresses at workplace some of them may be manageable but when it is excessive and prolonged, it can lead to many psychological issues.

We all know that we have experienced stress at workplace at some time in our jobs, irrespective of our job, gender, position, income etc. Sometimes it is overwork; sometimes it is the behavior of our colleagues or the schedule of the work. The stress due to these causes at work place may lead to ‘burnout”.

Stress at workplace impact all spheres of our lives and can affect our physical as well mental health and eventually impair our social, occupational and personal life. Which in turn may lead to psychiatric disorders like anxiety, depression, adjustment disorder etc.

Causes of Stress at work place

1. When you work too much, without enough time for socializing or relaxing.
2. When you lack close, supportive relationships.
3. When you lack of control over work processes
4. When you have to work for long hours and mandatory overtime
5. When you face bullying at workplace.
6. When you have fear of job loss
7. When you face micro aggressions and bias in the work environment
8. When there are too many responsibilities, without enough help from others.
9. When you work, work, work and no sleep.
10. When you feel nothing is ever good enough and start worrying about it.
11. When you start thinking pessimistic about yourself and the world.
12. When you have lack of control over situations.
13. When you have unclear job expectations.
14. When you have a heavy workload and work long hours.

Signs You May Be Experiencing Due to Work-Related Stress

• Have you started feel negative or critical.
• If you’re feeling sluggish about going to work and having difficulty getting started.
• When you get easily irritated or lose your patience.
• When you have problem with concentration.
• When you are not satisfied with your work or achievements.
• If you’ve recently picked up smoking or drinking.
• When you have problems with sleep.
• When have frequent headaches, body aches, and fatigue without any medical cause.
• When you get exhausted easily.
• When you feel there’s a lack of recognition for your efforts.
• When job expectations feel overly demanding.
• When work seems monotonous or unchallenging.

So, if you are getting too much stressed out, not able to sleep properly or feeling depression, anger, changes in appetite, low self-confidence, or feelings of hopelessness, all may be signal towards work place burnout. If you have all these above signs and symptom, it doesn’t only affect your physical and mental health but also affects your family, relationships and your job. You should recognize these warning signs before you past the break point. It is always the better to think and change the direction and learn how to cope yourself to overcome burnout.

How to manage

To achieve better mental health, interact with your partner and the rest of the family as well as socialize more with others at work. Stay away from people having pessimistic mentality.  Don’t overburden yourself and enjoy your workplace and the work you do. You should spend time with your hobbies and creative activity. Meditate, meditate, and meditate! Regular meditation can greatly enhance your mental clarity, reduce stress, and promote overall well-being. Limited use of social media can help reduce stress; as well you can steer away from comparison, negativity and information overload & instead of human connections and activities which make you happy. Music and reading books reduce stress very effectively. Music can lift your mood, calm you and take you away while reading will allow you to “dive into” various worlds and stories so that it is easier for you to detach then from daily nuisances of everyday life.

Managing Workplace Stress for Better Employee Well-Being

Reducing workplace stress and strain is made possible by cultivating a favorable organizational environment. Having regards for the employees’ and organizations are being addressed, this encourages courtesy, engagement and interaction. Promote taking off during weekends, taking time off to interact with family. Flexible working hours are also greatly effective as they promote comfortable schedules for the employees. In order to prevent harassment and discrimination in the workplace, preventive measures such as positioning appropriate human behaviors should be instituted so that dysfunctional behaviors are diagnosed and managed. Define what employees need to accomplish and how they will be measured by communicating regularly with them. Offer the employees cyber security helps and educate them on self-management. Make sure the physical aspects of the work and its organization are arranged in a way to set up and to avail the required tools to the employees. By including employees in the expectation-setting process, autonomy is enhanced while eliminating or standardizing repetitive processes helps alleviate depression.

Workplace stress is an undeniable sign and it is very important to recognize the warning signs of impending stress. It can affect your family your job and your personality and the problem is insurmountable. But there are positive steps you can take to deal with overwhelming stress and get your life back into balance. The theme of World Mental Health Day 2024 — “It is Time to Prioritize Mental Health in the Workplace” reminds us that we need to look after our mental health and work on building a system where we all have better working conditions. As then, this year we focus on the critical need to deal with mental health at work and urge employers and employees everywhere to look after their own well-being or that of their co-workers.

(The Author is Assistant Professor, Government Medical College Srinagar (IMHANS-K). Feedback: [email protected])