A Vhi-sponsored research report on mental health in the workplace has identified a lack of resilience among staff aged under 34, while employees across all age groups expressed deep dissatisfaction with their lives.

The report presents worrying levels of unhappiness, dissatisfaction and stress amongst a significant proportion of the working population.  Those under 34 tend to characterise their levels of stress as problematic rather than as part of the normal cut and thrust of life.

Brendan Kelly, Professor of psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin, commented: “There has been a lot of anecdotal evidence suggesting that workplace stress is increasing. The level of mental health issues identified is concerning.

“The level of mental health issues identified is concerning and with many respondents stating they believe it will impact their health in the future, it is clearly a growing problem. While we do acknowledge that the diagnostic thresholds are changing in society it is clear that stress is a serious and growing issue that needs to be urgently addressed.”

The key findings of the report are:

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• Only 16 per cent of those surveyed said that they were extremely satisfied with their lives while 21 per cent- essentially one in five people are extremely or very stressed.
• Despite the fact that the economy is performing better, people have found that pressure has increased in recent years. One in three are more stressed than they were two years ago.
• 33 per cent of people surveyed said that the stress in their jobs would cause them to consider moving jobs.
• One in five has missed work in the past year due to stress, anxiety or depression. Women, employees in the tech sector and those under 34 were most likely to worry about mental health and diet.
• Despite the fact that mental health is now more openly spoken about in Irish society, people remain slow to seek help from a friend or a colleague. 61 per cent have never sought help, showing that inhibitions about revealing mental health issues in the workplace remain. 50 per cent actually believe that they must hide the stress they feel at work if they are to maintain their career prospects.
• Corporate employees believe mental health issues are of increasing concern with 78 per cent holding that view, while 67 per cent of those surveyed say they need to take more care of their mental health.

An expert group assembled by Vhi made a series of recommendations in response to the findings.

• There should be a focus on resilience training to maintain employees’ mental health
• Risk taking and innovation should be encouraged
• Flexible options should be made available for accessing health benefits as this is something employees value.