Millions of WFH Brits face mental health timebomb

WORKING from home has created a ‘mental health timebomb’ for millions of Britons, according to a leading counselling clinic.

Paracelsus Recovery said cases of stress, anxiety and depression had soared during lockdown with abuse of drugs and alcohol and eating disorders also spiking.

It said millions of people had been ‘conscripted into the largest remote working experiment in history’, which has resulted in a new ‘home sickness’ syndrome as injurious to health as smoking.

Jan Gerber, its founder, said: ‘Working from home is lonely and stressful and these are the two leading causes of mental health issues worldwide. Most of the clients we are seeing have a negative mental health impact from the working from home lifestyle.’

He said home working was ‘rooted in a lack of structure’, adding: ‘People have been completely isolated from any meaningful interaction with colleagues. Those who are single have been totally on their own and we know loneliness is as bad for health as smoking.’

He said remote work during lockdown was more harmful than in normal times when people could work in a cafe or go out for dinner in the evening. ‘Instead, we have been calling it remote work when we should be calling it isolated work,’ he added.

Polling for the Royal Society for Public Health found 67 per cent of home workers felt less connected to their colleagues than before the pandemic and 56 per cent now found it harder to switch off.