Companies that don't reach out to Employee mental health The new study may sabotage, may sabotage.
According to adults with social anxiety and depression, they tend to work fewer hours Latest study Published in Psychiatric Research and Clinical Practice.
Researchers analyzed data from 250 adults aged 18 to 60 who had been diagnosed with social anxiety disorder. Over 52 weeks, they tracked how many hours each participant worked and recorded symptoms of anxiety and depression to see if their mental health could predict hours worked.
Natalie Datillo, clinical psychologist and instructor at Harvard Medical School. Depression and anxiety are treated differently, but they both isolate people, he says.
“What it involves is avoiding isolation and withdrawal and limiting our ability to have positively reinforcing experiences,” he says.
Work can provide certain protections that are often overlooked.
“Work has a protective effect on our mental health,” he says. “Work in general is good for us from a mental health perspective. It provides structure to our lives, it gives us something to do, it allows us to interact with other people, not to mention it allows us to have an income.”
“The less we do, the less likely we are to experience things that make us feel better.”
A person who struggles with certain anxious tendencies may find it difficult to work, present, and interact with co-workers, but is ultimately not plagued by a decision.
“For the most part, we can put it together and do it and feel better,” Datillo says. “People who struggle with an anxiety disorder don't get better. They spend the rest of the day thinking, ruminating or obsessing, as they do, about what other people think.”
If they are depressed, severe self-criticism may also begin. This can cause them to leave early, call in sick and become even more independent.
Ironically, the more they avoid work, the more symptoms of anxiety and depression can become, Datillo says.
“The less we do and the more we avoid, the less likely we are to experience things that make us feel better,” he says.
By taking care of the mental health of their employees, companies can actually help their bottom line.
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