Canada Telephone Counselling Confidential

Stress in the Workplace

Canadians are stressed! According to a study released by the Canadian Mental Health Association and Desjardins Financial Security, 83% of Canadians say they have gone to work while they were sick or exhausted and they've done on average six times within the last year.

The Conference Board of Canda shows that stressed workers are absent from work twice as often as those with little stress.

photo by Nina

The cost to the Canadian economy is in the billions - thirty billion to be exact. Participants in the study beleive that stress-related mental-health problems such as burnout, anxiety, and depression have increased over the years. Mental health claims, especially claims related to depression, are the fastest growing sector of work days lost due to diability.

According to the CMHA press release, "The silence surrounding mental health in the workplace is particularly alarming considering how prevalent the issue is at work. Approximately 43% of Canadians have had a colleague who has had a mental health issue and 34% have had a co-worker leave work for a period of time because of a mental health issue. Interestingly, 26% of those respondents noted that their colleague never came back to work."

This study was released as part of National Health Week (May 7 - 13).

Stress and Burnout at Work

Are you experiencing stress and burnout at work? If so, you are not alone. According to the following article by United Press International,

"Most U.S. workers report feeling under great stress at work and a large majority complain of burnout.

A nationwide survey by CareerBuilder.com, released Wednesday, of more than 2,500 workers found 77 percent said they feel burnout and more than half said they work under a great deal of stress.

Workers most often blame colleagues for their office anxiety, with 16 percent citing difficult co-workers as their primary cause of stress at work.

Other top workplace stressors include unrealistic workload, tight deadlines, last-minute projects and difficult supervisors.

'High-pressure work environments are taking their toll on workers` morale,' said Rosemary Haefner, a CareerBuilder.com vice president.

'Twenty-three percent of workers say they frequently or constantly feel burnout at work. This can be detrimental to both workers, whose health and career progress may suffer, and employers, who pick up the tab in higher insurance costs and lost productivity.'"

Copyright 2006 by United Press International, CHICAGO, IL, United States (UPI)