The adage is to say that “work is health”. However, this is not what the results of a survey launched by the Pierre Deniker Foundationat least when it comes to mental health. Evaluating the mental state of working French people, the study based on 3,200 questionnaires reveals that 22% of them present a “distress leading to a mental disorder”. A number that even rises to 26% for women, against 19% for men.
Sides of harassment at work
“We wanted to measure the risk of depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, addictions … among working people”, declares the director of the study, psychiatrist and researcher in epidemiology in Paris Descartes Astrid Chevance, interviewed by The Parisian. And the risk factors are multiple. For 22% of employees, the work they do does not give them a good opinion of themselves. 27% feel that they cannot count on their colleagues. 44% report poor communication and information flow within their team.
The difference between women and men is already known, explains Astrid Chevance, still on a daily basis: “Mental disorder and depression affect women twice as much as men (less resistance to stress, financial dependence, hormones, etc.)”.
Nevertheless, women are more sensitive to the valuation of their work. 20% also say “To have at their work one (or more) people who take pleasure in making them suffer”, write the authors of the study. In men, mental distress is linked to a lack of solidarity. 38% of men also say they often come into contact with rude or aggressive people. “All of this is two sides of the job harassment”, concludes the psychiatrist.
A major public health issue
Caregivers are particularly concerned by the risk of mental health problems, since 28% are in distress. This is mainly due to the weight of harassment at work, as well as a lack of support from their superiors. People who work more than 50 hours per week, those who receive an annual income of less than 15,000 euros and those who spend more than 1.5 hours per day in transport are also populations at risk. Finally, 15% of working people believe they have not succeeded in combining their professional and personal life.
“The mental health of working people is now a major public health issue”, alert the Pierre Deniker Foundation. An awareness that should push to develop prevention methods and actions in companies.
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