Why is mental health at the workplace crucial?

mental health at the workplace

As a working professional, seeking a balance between work and personal life becomes a daunting task. It adds to stress levels and burns out your mind trying to juggle both.

Small irritants or issues in both personal and professional aspects of your life hamper your productivity. They fatigue your mind and directly impact your overall quality of life. 

Managing these irritants or workplace issues is essential for maintaining or increasing your productivity, reducing distractions, and avoiding burnout. This adds meaning and structure to your life.

No employee can benefit from a volatile workplace or a toxic work environment. It in turn spells employee attrition and financial losses for the company. 

Factors like long work hours, lack of emotional, psychological and social support, or even harassment at the workplace increase stress levels. These factors contribute to mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, anger management issues and substance abuse.

According to research, more than 50% of respondents globally, between the age of 24-35 years suffer due to stress and anxiety in the workplace. 

This alarming situation means that the entire working population of a country is stressed at the workplace. And this is a sign of a toxic work environment.

Also, after the Covid-19 pandemic, workers’ daily stress reached a record high in 2020, according to the Global Workplace 2021 Report.

This has led to a further prevalence of such mental health issues, especially among young working professionals.

Following work-related challenges can negatively impact your mental health:

  • Long & inflexible hours
  • Working remotely with no clear demarcation between work and personal time
  • A toxic workplace that fosters bullying, harassment, or abuse
  • Lack of training or guidance 
  • Ambiguous or unclear communication from management about tasks, goals, or decision-making
  • Lack of support from senior management

All these stressors are red flags at work and need to be addressed. 

You must seek professional help if you notice any of the following symptoms of stress and anxiety:

  • Decline in your performance at work
  • Trouble concentrating and thinking
  • Changes in your appetite and sleeping patterns
  • Changes in your mood
  • Loss of interest in activities
  • Unexplained aches and pains
  • Panic attacks
  • Mood disorder
  • Intense fear of losing your job

MIT School of Distance Education is an institute engaged in the holistic development of working professionals. Hence along with academics, a focus on mental health and mental conditioning is necessary. 

MITSDE Harbour is an initiative focused on helping students make positive changes in themselves to achieve their goals. It is an initiative for students beyond the usual periphery of the course.

The programme helps to deal with mental health issues such as stressful situations, social anxiety or depression.

This program guides participants on various techniques. These include time management, effective study practices, facing common social situations, handling stress, and coping strategies. This initiative aims to motivate you to always do your best despite any challenges you may face.

Do you want to learn how to deal with work stress and come out victorious?

MIT Harbour is organizing Maanas; a 7- workshop series by mental health professionals and life skill trainers. These Workshops will address workplace stress-related issues and equip you with effective tactics to deal with them.

It is a certificate-based workshop series. the participants will receive a Certificate of Participation at the end of the workshop.