Mental health issues are on the rise

The stigma attached to mental health is declining but as life becomes faster and more challenging, the numbers of people suffering from stress and anxiety look set to rise.

That’s according to Dr Brian Marien, co-founder of Positive Group, a company which works with organisations in the corporate, public and educational sectors to help managers and staff manage pressure and adapt to change.

However, he also believes the issue is becoming more important for firms, who realise addressing it has many benefits for business.

Positive Group has reported a 40% increase in the number of people it worked with in 2016 compared to the previous year, delivering its programmes to around 9,000 people across the UK, Europe, Asia, the US and Australia.

Dr Marien said: “The stigma around stress and anxiety is coming down and employers are playing a big role here – but more needs to be done.

“As life becomes faster and more challenging, the numbers suffering from stress and anxiety are only set to rise.”

On average, British employers are losing 27.5 days of productive time per employee each year as staff are off work sick, costing the UK economy as much as £73 billion.

“Most business are well aware of the business benefits of a healthy workforce but it is the more progressive, enlightened organisations that are taking active steps to reduce the incidence of mental health problems,“said Dr Marien.

Dr Marien, a doctor of medicine and health psychologist who has written about the effects of overwork, also believes employees are also more willing to admit to stress and anxiety and there is a greater understanding of what organisations can practically do to improve the psychological wellbeing of their workforce.

He studied cognitive and behavioural psychology at King’s College London and wrote his masters’ thesis on occupational stress and burnout.

Both employers and employees are becoming more aware of stress and mental health issues.