Yoga in every office would help ease stress, says WHO

YOGA should be offered by every workplace, the World Health Organisation has said.

Both yoga and stress management courses could reduce mental illness in the workplace, while managers should also undergo mental health training to enable them to help their employees, according to global health leaders.

The WHO, with fellow UN body the International Labour Organisation (ILO), has set out new policy recommendations on what can be done to help improve mental health in the workplace.

These include training managers to support their workers’ mental health by preventing stressful work environments and responding to workers in distress. Improving employee awareness of mental health issues and holding interventions “that aim to build workers’ skills in stress management”, which could include mindfulness training, are also suggested.

The WHO suggests opportunities in the workplace for “leisure-based physical activity”, which could include resistance training, strength training, walking or yoga – and if these cannot be conducted in a work setting companies should “facilitate external opportunities” for workers to take part.

Organisations are also encouraged to examine employee workloads as “high workload increases the risk of symptoms of mental health conditions”. Employee mental health can also be damaged through bullying and psychological violence,also known as “mobbing”, the recommendations note.

The WHO said around one in seven adults of working age has a mental health disorder. Estimates suggest that 12 billion “working days” are lost every year around the world owing to depression and anxiety among workers.