New mental health survey sheds more light on impact of depression in the workplace
TORONTO, Nov. 19, 2007 /CNW/ - The Great-West Life Centre for Mental
Health in the Workplace (the Centre) today announced the release of a new
survey on the impact of depression in the workplace. The survey, commissioned
by the Centre and conducted by Ipsos-Reid this fall in association with the
Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health, asked
managers and employees about their personal experiences with depression.
The Great-West Life Centre for Mental Health in the Workplace represents
a long term, public service commitment. The Centre has two objectives: to
increase knowledge and awareness, and to turn knowledge into action - to help
employers, managers and employees prevent and reduce the impacts of mental
health issues in the workplace.
"This study sheds additional light on the issue of depression in the
workplace and provides us with some revealing data on how managers and
employees view this serious issue," said Mike Schwartz, Executive Director of
the Centre. "This is the first research project to be commissioned by the
Centre, and consistent with our public service objective, we are pleased to
make the results available to the public and to the Mental Health Commission
of Canada."
The survey revealed that:
- 19% of Canadian workers missed three or more work days due to
depression, stress or anxiety in the last 12 months
- 64% of employees who had been diagnosed as clinically depressed or
believed that they suffered from depression felt that a specific
event in their life triggered the depression
- Only 18% of Canadian managers said they had received training to help
them identify and deal with employees who exhibit signs of depression
Schwartz encouraged Canadian employers, managers and employees to take
time to read and understand the survey, and to become engaged in the issue of
mental health.
"The issue of mental health is complex and touches many lives," said
Schwartz. "By becoming informed and engaged, Canadian employers, managers and
employees can take steps today to better address workplace mental health
issues."
About the Great-West Life Centre for Mental Health in the Workplace
Established in June 2007, the Great-West Life Centre for Mental Health in
the Workplace brings a unique focus to an important issue for Canadian
employers, managers, and employees. Focused specifically on the workplace, the
Centre is working to increase awareness and understanding and to help
employers take concrete steps to prevent and reduce employee mental health
issues. The Centre is a long-term, public service commitment to this very
important social and economic issue.
Results of the Ipsos-Reid survey will be available shortly on the
Centre's website at www.greatwestlife.com/centreformentalhealth.
About Great-West Life
Founded in Winnipeg in 1891, The Great-West Life Assurance Company has
long been a leader in the group benefits marketplace. Great-West Life is a
member of the Power Financial Corporation group of companies.
For further information: Marlene Klassen, APR, Assistant Vice-President,
Communications Services, (204) 946-7705
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
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.
*****
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.
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.
*****
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.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Mental Health Commission of Canada
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Ipsos Reid study on depression in the workplace released today
(statistical references from The Ottawa Citizen, February 15, 2007)
Overview
-Fourteen per cent of Canadian adults have been diagnosed with depression by a doctor, with a higher incidence in women (18 per cent) than men (11 per cent).
-Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed (72 per cent) know someone who has been diagnosed with depression.
-Eight in 10 Canadians said they believe depression is a "life-threatening illness," while just 24 per cent think depressed people could "just snap out of it if they really wanted to."
-Seventy-nine per cent of workers said they believe a person diagnosed with depression would keep the fact secret to avoid damaging their future opportunities at work, and nearly half believe someone missing work because of depression would be more likely "to get into trouble and maybe even fired."
-Eighty-eight per cent of Canadians believe CEOs should make helping employees with depression "a key human resources priority."
Shannon Proudfoot of The Ottawa Citizen interviewed Donna Hardaker, a community mental health analyst at the Ontario chapter of the Canadian Mental Health Association. Ms. Hardaker says workplaces are still "in the Dark Ages" in terms of dealing with depression. "When someone has depression, the symptoms co-workers see are behavioural," Ms. Hardaker says. "They don't see someone who needs to lie down, they don't see someone who has to go for chemotherapy treatment. Instead, they see someone who may be irritable, withdrawn, not meeting deadlines, blaming people for problems."
Why should employers care?
Hopefully, they care about the well-being of their employees, first of all. Secondly, mental illness costs Canadian businesses $33 billion a year in lost productivity (Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health).
Employers need to take responsibility to help their employees both prevent and deal with mental illness. It can only lead to healthier, happier employees and a more productive workplace.
Some suggestions:
-Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)
-Stress management workshops
-Adequate benefit coverage for professional counselling ($1000+ per year); psychologist visits are NOT covered by health care, at least not in the province of Ontario
-At least 2 weeks vacation time permitted annually; ensure your employees take advantage of it each year – this includes management
-Flexibility for employees to attend medical or psychological appointments during the day as often as deemed necessary by the health care professional; allowing the employee to undergo treatment as early as possible. This will reduce missed work hours and sick days in the long run.
-Modified work schedules for employees with persistent, but manageable, mental illness and for those who are re-entering the workforce after sick leave due to mental illness; in these cases a doctor’s note may provide proper instruction)
-Most importantly, the employer should be approachable and understanding
Mental Health Works is a great resource employers can visit for detailed information on how to recognize mental illness, talk with employees, and handle workplace situations that involve mental illness.
Overview
-Fourteen per cent of Canadian adults have been diagnosed with depression by a doctor, with a higher incidence in women (18 per cent) than men (11 per cent).
-Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed (72 per cent) know someone who has been diagnosed with depression.
-Eight in 10 Canadians said they believe depression is a "life-threatening illness," while just 24 per cent think depressed people could "just snap out of it if they really wanted to."
-Seventy-nine per cent of workers said they believe a person diagnosed with depression would keep the fact secret to avoid damaging their future opportunities at work, and nearly half believe someone missing work because of depression would be more likely "to get into trouble and maybe even fired."
-Eighty-eight per cent of Canadians believe CEOs should make helping employees with depression "a key human resources priority."
Shannon Proudfoot of The Ottawa Citizen interviewed Donna Hardaker, a community mental health analyst at the Ontario chapter of the Canadian Mental Health Association. Ms. Hardaker says workplaces are still "in the Dark Ages" in terms of dealing with depression. "When someone has depression, the symptoms co-workers see are behavioural," Ms. Hardaker says. "They don't see someone who needs to lie down, they don't see someone who has to go for chemotherapy treatment. Instead, they see someone who may be irritable, withdrawn, not meeting deadlines, blaming people for problems."
Why should employers care?
Hopefully, they care about the well-being of their employees, first of all. Secondly, mental illness costs Canadian businesses $33 billion a year in lost productivity (Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health).
Employers need to take responsibility to help their employees both prevent and deal with mental illness. It can only lead to healthier, happier employees and a more productive workplace.
Some suggestions:
-Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)
-Stress management workshops
-Adequate benefit coverage for professional counselling ($1000+ per year); psychologist visits are NOT covered by health care, at least not in the province of Ontario
-At least 2 weeks vacation time permitted annually; ensure your employees take advantage of it each year – this includes management
-Flexibility for employees to attend medical or psychological appointments during the day as often as deemed necessary by the health care professional; allowing the employee to undergo treatment as early as possible. This will reduce missed work hours and sick days in the long run.
-Modified work schedules for employees with persistent, but manageable, mental illness and for those who are re-entering the workforce after sick leave due to mental illness; in these cases a doctor’s note may provide proper instruction)
-Most importantly, the employer should be approachable and understanding
Mental Health Works is a great resource employers can visit for detailed information on how to recognize mental illness, talk with employees, and handle workplace situations that involve mental illness.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
News: One million adults depressed, 70% employed
Excerpt from CharityVillage.com
A study by Statistics Canada examined stress levels among the employed population, aged 18 to 75, and found that depression stands out as a major occupational health issue. Just over one million adults had experienced a major depressive episode in the year before the survey interview. Of these people, 7 in 10 were employed during that year. For workers of both sexes, high stress on and off the job was associated with depression. However, the mental health of male workers was more vulnerable to stress arising from the work environment. Men in high strain jobs were 2.5 times more likely than their counterparts in low strain jobs to have experienced depression; women were 1.6 times more likely. Male and female workers who considered most days to be quite a bit or extremely stressful were over three times as likely to have suffered a major depressive episode, compared with those who reported low levels of general stress. -- Report can be found at Statistics Canada
A study by Statistics Canada examined stress levels among the employed population, aged 18 to 75, and found that depression stands out as a major occupational health issue. Just over one million adults had experienced a major depressive episode in the year before the survey interview. Of these people, 7 in 10 were employed during that year. For workers of both sexes, high stress on and off the job was associated with depression. However, the mental health of male workers was more vulnerable to stress arising from the work environment. Men in high strain jobs were 2.5 times more likely than their counterparts in low strain jobs to have experienced depression; women were 1.6 times more likely. Male and female workers who considered most days to be quite a bit or extremely stressful were over three times as likely to have suffered a major depressive episode, compared with those who reported low levels of general stress. -- Report can be found at Statistics Canada
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