An alarming number of Australians feel their workplaces are mentally unhealthy environments, causing staff to take more sick days due to depression, anxiety and stress, a new survey has found.
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Workers say mental wellbeing is even more neglected than physical safety on the job, with 48 per cent of 1126 respondents saying their employers fail to help them through job-related or personal mental health issues.
The TNS Global study, commissioned by beyondblue, found those working in mentally unhealthy workplaces were twice as likely to take sick days.
With one in five workers taking time off work due to feeling mentally unwell in the past year, industry groups and health advocates have urged employers to treat the mental health of their staff as seriously as physical health and safety.
Job-related mental health problems cost Australian businesses almost $11 billion a year in absenteeism, reduced productivity at work and compensation claims, the study said.
Beyondblue chairman Jeff Kennett said a mentally healthy workplace, which protects and promotes mental health and empowers staff to seek help for depression and anxiety, benefited employers and workers.
‘‘Employers not only have an occupational and health safety to deliver good mental health in the workplace, but also a moral obligation to support their workers who often spend more time at work than anywhere else.’’
Melbourne doctor Geoff Toogood, 54, battled severe depression last year when a marriage break-up and work-related stresses unravelled his mental health.
He became suicidal but felt neglected by his bosses and discouraged from applying for leave.
‘‘I wasn’t sleeping well, I was waking up at night ... I felt dropped into this intense sadness,’’ he said.
‘‘I was having all of that and then having to get up and go to work.’’
It was not until he had a minor stroke that he was able to take eight weeks off.
‘‘What people need is some time to recoup, for the mind and body to rest, and to be given the time to move forward,’’ he said.
Dr Toogood said there was a clear stigma surrounding mental health, and workplaces needed to be educated that ‘‘it’s not a weakness’’.
‘‘If I had stomach cancer, I would have been treated differently.
‘‘What concerns me is that I was working in the health industry ... if they’re not doing it well here, what is happening outside?’’
The new research will be released on Monday as a new alliance of business groups and the mental health sector unveils ‘‘Heads Up’’, an Australian-first guide for companies to create tailor-made mental health plans.
Former beyondblue CEO Kate Carnell, now the head of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said businesses’ attention to the mental health of its staff could reap dividends through higher productivity, higher staff retention and recruitment.
“We’ve done a lot of good work in Australia over the last 20 years on occupational health and safety, but the focus has primarily been on the physical safety of workers, not as much on their mental health.’’
