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Failure to tackle workplace depression costing millions, as one in four workers suffer discrimination

It's Mental Health Awareness Week, but many employers don't seem to be getting the message, says Dick Skellington.

Cartoon by Catherine Pain:employer telling depressed worker to stop moaning

Earlier this month the mental health charity Mind  published research which highlighted how much more needs to be done by employers and management to help tackle and alleviate stress and depression in the workplace.
 
The UK workplace, it seems, is characterised by negative perceptions of mental ill-health, made worse by a culture of denial among managers which results in the sufferer feeling isolated and neglected.

Mind reported that one in four workers have experienced discrimination or witnessed colleagues being discriminated against because of mental ill-health issues. Workers were unable to disclose mental ill-health problems to management because discrimination was rife and openness discouraged.  
 
One in four never asked 'how are you?'

Mind’s survey portrays the British workplace as a haven bastion enclave sanctum hotbed of prejudice and ignorance about worker mental ill-health, where intolerance and fear result in practices and procedures which exacerbate the problem for the individual sufferer. In their survey one in four workers said their bosses never asked them how they were, and over two thirds said they did not feel valued at work.

A Mind spokesperson commented: "Mental health problems remain the elephant in the room … employees are afraid to speak out because they fear discrimination or being thought of as weak, and employers are afraid to broach the subject in case they make things worse."  

Mental ill-health leads to dismissal for 22 percent

Mind reported that in a worryingly high number of cases staff who reported their mental ill-health issues to managers were summarily dismissed: 22 percent of those who had disclosed a mental health problem in a previous job said they had been fired or forced to quit.
 
This finding is simply staggering when you consider that mental ill-health is the most common health problem affecting all people of working age.

As employers adjust to rapid change, new pressures brought by the age of austerity and the introduction of new management cultures, often without due process or consultation, can increase the stress for staff, and this can spiral into deep depression and anxiety.

In 2011 one in six of the UK workforce suffered from severe stress, depression and addiction at any one time, according to Mind, leading to absenteeism and inefficiency.
 

'the introduction of new management cultures can increase stress for staff'

Mind found that things were getting worse because of the recession and the downturn and that worryingly, mental ill-health problems were more widespread in the public sector. Their survey revealed:

 

    •    41 percent are currently stressed or very stressed in their jobs – making work more stressful than money worries,  marriage and relationships or health issues

    •    two out of three had been put under more pressure by management since the downturn

    •    one in three feel stressed by a reduction to budgets in their workplace

    •    48 percent are scared to take time off sick

    •    28 percent are stressed by the threat of redundancy, rising to 41 percent for public sector

    •    one in five fear that mentioning stress would put them first in line for redundancy

    •    41 percent said stress is a ‘taboo’ topic

    •    46 percent said time off for stress was seen as an ‘excuse’ for something else

    •    one in four said they would be deemed less capable than others if they admitted to feeling stressed


The cost of all this is astronomical. The Centre for Mental Health (CMH) estimates that in 2010 the cost to UK business of mental ill-health among employees was a staggering £26 billion, or over £1,000 per employee!
 
Presenteeism costs the economy £16 billion

Mind estimates that tens of thousands of workers go to work each day despite feeling mentally below par, and this alone costs the UK economy over £16 billion a year in underperformance, or ‘presenteesim’ as it is called by the CMH. For details see their forthcoming report Managing Presenteeism which explores how employees can improve support for employees experiencing mental ill-health problems.
 
Mind’s study emphasises how important it is for employers to engage more fully with staff suffering mental ill-health and to create a culture of openness in the workplace, and a culture of care which supports workers and does not stigmatise or abuse them.
 
You might want to reflect on just how open your workplace is with regard to mental ill-health. Society Matters would be interested in hearing from you: contact r.s.skellington@open.ac.uk.
 
Dick Skellington 26 May 2011

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Cartoon by Catherine Pain

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Cartoon of Dick Skellington

About Society Matters

Provocative, relevant, current: for the last decade Society Matters magazine has been informing, engaging and annoying social sciences students in equal measure.  Now, its move online has given us the chance to bring its lively mix of analysis and opinion to a wider audience.

Society Matters online started in October 2010 and has, so far, covered a wide range of issues and topics ranging from inequality and the big society to arms sales and foreign policy. All can be seen by scrolling down from the top of the Society Matters front page.

We have also illustrated many of these posts with the work of our two illustrators (see below). Serious analyses have been interspersed with posts on a less weighty issues which show both human folly and innovation.

Society Matters continues to be edited by its original creator, Dick Skellington. Dick, pictured above, was previously a programme manager in the social sciences faculty, walks the talk through an active involvement in the affairs of his home town of Stony Stratford, Bucks, and finds light relief through writing poetry and the occasional stage appearance in local productions.

Since many years at the coalface of journalism have taught us all that sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words Dick is aided and abetted by resident illustrators, Gary Edwards and Catherine Pain – both former OU students.

Catherine has drawn and painted all her life, and when she is not pillorying public figures for Society Matters paints animal portraits, works in stained glass and produces alphabet teaching posters for children. Her work is in several galleries in and around her current home in Cambridgeshire and her publications include an illustrated cookbook sold on behalf of the National Trust, a colouring book for small children, Alphabet for Colouring, and The Lost Children, a story for older children. Her website is at catherinepain.co.uk

Gary has written two best-selling books about his travels all over the world watching Leeds United FC, Paint it White  and Leeds United - The Second Coat. His third title No Glossing Over  will be published by Mainstream in September 2011. He has not missed a Leeds game anywhere in the world since February 1968 and married his wife Lesley at Elland Road.

Specialising in wall murals, Gary also holds diplomas from the London Art College, The Morris College of Journalism, has a Diploma in Freelance Cartooning and Illustration and is a contributing cartoonist for Speakeasy, an English-speaking magazine in Paris. During the 1970's and 1980's he collected  hearses and is a long time member of the Official Flat Earth Society as well as the Clay Pigeon Preservation Society.

Please note: The opinions expressed in Society Matters posts are those of the individual authors, and do not represent the views of The Open University.