Canada's public service is depressed

Number of depressed workers claiming disability doubles in a decade

Don Butler
The Ottawa Citizen

Depressed and anxious public servants comprise by far the largest group of federal employees on disability insurance. And their ranks have expanded rapidly since the early 1990s.

The information appears in a major federal study of public service compensation that calls for sweeping changes to benefit programs for government workers.

The study was posted without fanfare on Treasury Board's website last week.

According to the study, about 4.3 per cent of the federal government's 200,000 unionized workers -- nearly 8,500 in total -- were on disability in 2002.

Though that proportion hasn't changed markedly since the mid-1990s, the number of public servants citing disabling depression and anxiety nearly doubled to more than 44 per cent in 2002 from 23.7 in 1991.

That's far and away the largest trigger for disability claims by federal government workers. Cancer, at 14.2 per cent, is next.

The government's 40,000 or so managers and non-unionized workers make proportionately fewer disability claims than their unionized colleagues. In 2002, just 2.8 per cent were collecting disability insurance. But fully 58 per cent of them cited "mental/nervous" afflictions in 2002, up from 44 per cent in 1992.

For the rest of this story see www.ottawacitizen.com.

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While I worked for the public service for only 2 years I knew a few people who took stress leave in my department. In fact, it was during my time in the public service that my own mental illness progressed rapidly. At the end of my stint in the public service I had what some would call a nervous breakdown.

Note that I am not suggesting that working for the public service caused me to become sick. It was a combination of many factors. However, I can say with certainty that one department in which I worked was not conducive to good mental health. At the time, it wasn't a good fit for me. Nonetheless, I managed to produce excellent work during my time there and I received positive reviews by my supervisors.

For the most part, I enjoyed my work experience. I learned tons and was paid well considering I started as a student. I also met some great people who are still friends today. There were just certain frustrations with working for the public services that I have not experienced with the same severity elsewhere.

Out of respect for my former colleagues and government employer I would rather not go into detail about the negatives here. If you have questions, please email me.