MONIQUE KEIRAN

A troubling epidemic in our workplaces.

No major epidemics of infectious diseases have hit Canada recently. Despite pockets of measles, flu and other infectious agents, we’ve seen nothing in the past couple of years like a SARS scare or an H1N1 alarm.

But we shouldn’t congratulate ourselves. During the past decade, the largest pandemic of the past century has been unfolding. Numerous agencies tracking workplace health and productivity report that mental-health issues in Canada’s workplaces are widespread and problematic.

In the past few years, one in three working Canadians has reported a current or past mental-health issue, and 36 per cent said they felt so stressed at work it affected their daily lives. Eight in 10 employees with mental-health issues say it affects their work, while 67 per cent of those with significant stress issues report the same.

In a 2015 survey, 58 per cent of employees in Canada said chronic stress affected their productivity, while nearly half considered leaving their jobs because of chronic workplace stress.

According to human-resources consultant Morneau Shepell, physicians report that depression, anxiety and stress disorders are outpacing other health issues in Canada, with depression equalling high blood pressure among the top health issues doctors see.

The epidemic’s cost is staggering. The Conference Board of Canada estimated last year the resulting productivity losses cost our economy almost $50 billion annually. A 2016 Morneau Shepell report suggests productivity costs might be even higher. Many workers surveyed who took time off for a mental-health issue did so unofficially, with the days not recorded as absence days.

In addition, mental illness accounts for about one-third of all disability claims. The value of those claims reaches up to $33 billion each year.

Canadians have much to be anxious about. Employees are being asked to do more than ever within the 40-hour (going on 70-hour) work week. The emphasis on increasing workplace productivity has reached a fever pitch, with single employees now responsible for the work that three or four or more people handled 10 years ago.

Workers have insufficient time to complete their work and regularly take work home. This affects family, exercise, health and all those other aspects of “life” under the work-life balance.

Jobs are less secure, with midcareer experience and advanced qualifications often required for even entry-level or part-time positions, and people are taking on part-time, contract or several jobs to make ends meet.

Here in coastal B.C., the cost of living is one of the highest in Canada, yet salaries remain lower than in many other regions with lower housing, food and energy costs.

Physical workplaces have also changed. Many organizations are installing less expensive, open office layouts.

Sold to employees as ways to improve collaboration — even when the organization had no problems with employee collaboration before — these noisy, often cramped environments have been clearly shown in repeated studies to depress productivity and increase employee stresshormone levels. The results are increased mental-health issues among workers, greater absenteeism and further decreased productivity.

Decades of health research shows that the effects of stress compound over time, often leading to high blood pressure, diabetes and worse. One study found that people in stressful jobs with little control over their work are more likely to die young than employees with more control over their work. Other research has found that people who work long hours face a 33 per cent higher risk of stroke than those who put in a standard work week.

Interviews with more than 2,000 employees at 60 companies in Canada focused on factors underlying psychological distress, depression and burnout. Followup blood tests measured participants’ stress hormones. The researchers found psychological demands from work, workplace conflicts, job insecurity and work-life imbalance were key contributors to mental-health problems.

I expect some readers will email me with comments to: “Stop whining/whingeing/cry-babying.” According to the organizational psychologists studying mental health in Canada’s workforce, responses such as these are the least helpful.

Workplace surveys and studies have shown again and again that organizations with policies and strategies in place to support workplace mental health and who train their managers to support worker mental health see fewer of these health issues among employees, less absenteeism and reduced productivity losses due to worker distress, depression and anxiety than other employers.

Those proactive, supportive employers should congratulate themselves.