Mental health: Nowhere else does the workplace have as much impact as here

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Swiss people rate their mental health more positively than respondents in other countries; This is further evidenced by the latest “Axa Mental Health Survey”, which is carried out annually in 16 countries around the world. According to the research results, fewer people in Switzerland are affected by problems such as depression, anxiety or stress compared to the previous year.

But the numbers remain high: Overall, around one in four people in Switzerland report currently experiencing mental health problems. For example, 15 percent of respondents currently suffer from depression, according to this year’s survey.

patient workplace

What is striking, according to the Axa study, is that nowhere else does the workplace have such a large impact on psychological health as in Switzerland, i.e. the same impact as one’s personal life.

The majority of employees surveyed state that they experience sleep disorders (47 percent), stress and anxiety (33 percent), feelings of worthlessness (33 percent), loss of appetite or eating disorders (24 percent) and difficulty concentrating (39 percent). working atmosphere. As a result, almost a third of survey respondents said they were less engaged at work, and 22 percent said they were even considering changing jobs.

Although there is no significant difference between genders, it seems that especially young people (18-24 years old) are more psychologically affected by working conditions.

high costs

Nearly 17 percent of respondents in Switzerland say they have been away from work in the past year due to mental health problems. According to their own testimony, almost a third of employees have been affected by burnout in the past; in the twelve months before the survey the rate was almost one in ten.

The Center for Economics and Business Research calculated the cost of work-related stress on behalf of Axa. Accordingly, in Switzerland, there is an annual GDP loss of 19.6 billion dollars that may result from work-related health problems.

lack of support

Despite the great importance of the workplace, or perhaps precisely because of it, many employees complain about the lack of support offers in the company: 42 percent of respondents say they do not receive any support in the field of mental health. Only half of those already affected by mental illnesses such as burnout were satisfied with the support they received from employers.

Trust in superiors is often correspondingly low: less than a third of respondents turn to their managers when they have psychological problems. Relevant offers and initiatives will certainly be effective: for 45 percent of respondents, such measures will have a positive impact on retention.

But designing appropriate support measures in the field of mental health is difficult, and the needs of those surveyed are as diverse as the symptoms of the disease: They specifically want easier access to specialist advice and better coverage of Mental health medical care, as well as a greater focus on mental health, as well as education and coaching.

Axa, in collaboration with research institute Ipsos, surveyed 16,000 people aged 18 to 74 from 16 countries about their mental health using an online survey last fall; among them were 1,000 people from Switzerland. (pd/hzi/bdw)

Source :Blick