MENTAL HEALTH has always been the proverbial elephant in
the room – Indian corporate houses would never acknowl-
edge that their people’s well-being and productivity could be
affected by mental health issues. Worse still, mental illnesses
could affect physical health and must not be ignored any
longer. According to Dr Niraj Ravani, a practising neuropsy-
chiatrist for two decades and Director of Mumbai Psychiatry
Clinics, four out of every 10 professionals in India suffer from
either depression or anxiety. What is worrying is that “over
half of them – about 55 per cent – are below 30 while 25 per
cent fall in the 30-40 age bracket. If you convert these into
numbers, they will be huge,” he says. Dr Ravani also refers to a
survey that has found that the number of workers at high risk
of suicide due to unmanaged stress has doubled in two years.
Various studies on this topic reveal worrying trends. There
is the National Mental Health Survey of India 2015-16 and also
a paper titled Workplace stress: A neglected aspect of mental
health and well-being, published in the Indian Journal of
Medical Research. A WHO information sheet and the Harvard
Mental Health Letter on mental health problems at workplace
point to several factors which may trigger mental illness.
Dr Ravani details some of these factors. To start with, long
working hours, difficult commutes and lack of exercise affect
the body clock. Add to that unhealthy competition, unrealistic
expectations, lack of team cohesion, office bullying or mobbing
(bullying of an individual by a group), little time for leisure/
hobbies/relationships and growing dependence on alcohol
and recreational drugs, and one will suffer from poor mental
health in no time.
Dr R.K. Suri, a Delhi-based clinical psychologist and stra-
tegic health management consultant, sees stress and anxiety
as an emerging concern. A professional with more than three
decades of experience, he has jointly set up a mental health and
well-being portal called TalktoAngel.com to address these is-
sues. According to him, an increased mismatch between reality
and expectations, a skewed work-life balance and an always-on
digital culture with little time for relaxation are the major wor-
ries. At any given time, 15 per cent people suffer from anxiety
symptoms, and this is increasing, he says. Five years ago, it
could have been 7-8 per cent or thereabouts. “But by 2030,
we could have the largest number of mental health patients.”
Lack of trust and open communication also adds to stress.
“There is a 31-year-old man (with a `1 crore salary package)
who has left his parents, and now, his wife has gone into de-
pression. Constant fights at home are affecting his work, and
his company has asked him to seek help,” says Dr Suri. Early
signs of stress could be anxiety, weight problems, loss of libido
and lack of concentration as experienced by his patient. If left
untreated, one may fail to deliver, lose self-esteem and start
having panic attacks.ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION OFTEN HURT
THE WELL-BEING OF YOUNG PROFESSIONALS,
BUT COMPANIES ARE NOT YET READY
TO ADDRESS MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES.
By E. Kumar Sharma
Illustration by Safia Zahid
EXECUTIVE HEALTH
NEW STUDIES are focus-
sing on how stress at
workplace causes mental
illnesses, the prevalence
of depression and anxi-
ety at work and the eco-
nomic impact of mental
disorders, says Dr Ravani
of Mumbai Psychiatry
Clinics. It is estimated
that non-communicable
diseases and mentalillnesses will cost India
$4.58 trillion by 2030.
“Also, companies tend
to lose more due to pre-
senteeism compared to
absenteeism,” he adds.
Presenteeism is a prac-
tice when a worker stays
longer than is required,
mostly due to a feeling
of insecurity. However,
he/she may not be fullyfunctional due to health
issues and productivity
may go down by 30-50
per cent. The doctor and
his colleagues are work-
ing on reliable and accu-
rate ways to measure this
so that people with men-
tal health problems can
be screened and treated
to prevent huge produc-
tivity losses.THE BREAKOUT ZONEMIND ABOVE
ALL ELSE
PERILS OF
PRESENTEEISM
August 11 I 2019 I BUSINESS TODAY I 127