Work & Finance

Deadlines, vertiginous property ladders and the pressure to compete have placed an unnatural strain on your human resources. But there’s no need to run for the hills and forsake your 9-5. You can still survive and thrive in the workplace jungle

Sure, you can run 100m without keeling over. Yes, you have a happy home life and a job with good prospects. You might even be a shoo-in for a pay rise this year. But maintaining an even work/life balance? Well, that’s where we could all do with a little bit of help.

All of those late nights at the coalface are getting us down: 66% of UK workers are said to have experienced a mental health problem, while – according to research carried out by The Priory – 32% of men said the pressure to provide is the single biggest stress in their lives. Furthermore, most of those surveyed admitted that mental illness is “having a negative impact on their work performance”. The news that time lost due to poor mental health is estimated to cost the UK economy £105bn annually only serves to pile on the pressure.

Whatever your standing, no one is exempt. According to the Mental Health Foundation, 73% of men earning less than £1200pcm have experienced mental ill-health; but, then, 59% of those earning over £3701pcm also have. It’s proof, if needed, that a hefty pay packet does not equate to happiness.

Pablo Vandenabeele, clinical director of mental health at BUPA, believes that work stresses feed insecurities, making us more likely to make mistakes on simple tasks, which, in turn, feeds back into our stresses and anxieties. Career and mental health, therefore, are incontestably related. But, as our research shows, when it comes to mental matters, your office may be more united than you think – and therein lies the solution.