Poor Mental Health at Work Has Increased

A journalist suffering from depression and anxiety has welcomed a new report that suggests poor mental health is costing UK employers more than before.

The report, published by the consultancy firm Deloitte and the mental health charity Mind, shows that poor mental health cost employers more than £43 billion in 2018. This is an increase of 16% since the last estimated cost of £37 billion in 2016.

Andy Holmes, a broadcaster and author, says that it is an issue that needs to be spoken about. He said: “It has been disappointing that it appears that poor mental health in the workplace is costing UK employers but it’s great that Deloitte and Mind are doing something to highlight the issue.”

The report suggests that there are a number of reasons for the increase in costs. These include factors such as presenteeism, burnout and an increase in wages.

Presenteeism, the act of being at a work place for more than the required hours, is on the increase, as the report shows that the number of employees coming to work on the days that they feel ill has risen from 29% in 2014 and 41.7% in 2018. This costs the employers more than when staff take a day off work.

Mr Holmes suffers from depression and anxiety and has said that he too has experienced burnout. He said: “I’ve worked myself into a position where I burnout a bit and I am trying to avoid that as best as I can.”

When asked about how he feels at work he says: “To an extent with this job, it itself can be an escape from mental health stuff because it’s quite a stressful job and because of the performance aspect of the job when I’m performing, like a piece for tv or report for the radio, the negative thoughts go out of my head, so I do tend to find that the job helps.”

He added: “I’m helped in the fact that with the job I do here I can choose my own hours if I’m having a bad day. I can just take time off, so I have been lucky, but I can appreciate from looking at this report and other case studies that not everyone else has been so lucky”.

The Mind Charity, have tips and advice on how to stay well at work, which can be found at: https://www.mind.org.uk/workplace/mental-health-at-work/taking-care-of-yourself/tips-for-employees/