Hi, everyone,

Here is an interesting Globe and Mail article on this subject.

Debbie Blondell
Mental Health Promotion Unit
Health Canada


The Globe and Mail, Friday, July 21, 2000

Worker stress costing economy billions, panel warns
  LOST PRODUCTIVITY An estimated 10% of the work
force is suffering from depression, which often
goes undiagnosed and untreated, a report by the
Business and Economic Roundtable on Mental Health
says.

By Virginia Galt


Toronto -- E-mail overload, cutthroat office
politics and longer work weeks are pushing some
employees over the edge, costing the Canadian
economy billions of dollars in lost productivity,
a panel of business leaders warned yesterday.

The Business and Economic Roundtable on Mental
Health said in a report that, at any given time,
an estimated 10 per cent of the work force is
suffering from depression, "a pervasive and
treacherous illness" that often goes undiagnosed
and untreated.

Employees are generally afraid to report mental
health problems for fear of being stigmatized,
the panel said, and employee assistance plans are
underused because of "widespread employee fears of
breakdowns in confidentiality."

Change has to come from the top, said former federal
finance minister Michael Wilson, chairman of the
mental health roundtable and newly appointed chief
executive officer of RT Capital Management Inc.

He said he knows of one high-profile CEO who
boasts that he does not suffer from stress --
he causes it.

Mr. Wilson's reasons for volunteering to serve on
the roundtable, formed two years ago, are deeply
personal. His 29-year-old son, Cameron, a successful
businessman who suffered from debilitating depression,
committed suicide in 1995.

But quite apart from the personal heartache, there
are practical business reasons for improving the
overall mental health of Canadians, he said at a
news conference in Toronto.

"We live in an information economy, it's a brain-based
economy, and a healthy mind is very important to the
successful operation . . . of the economy,"
Mr. Wilson said.

Another roundtable member, Colum Bastable, CEO
of Royal LePage Ltd., said employers who do not
treat their workers well risk losing them to
illness or to the competition.

Problems with increased workload can often be
eased by clearer communication about priorities,
he said. "It's not rocket science."

In a climate of increased competitive pressures,
the onus is on employers to create a culture where
staff can seek confidential help with health problems,
Mr. Bastable said.

Bill Wilkerson, president of the roundtable and
senior counsel with communications firm GPC Canada,
said stress-related disorders cost the economy more
than strikes, plant shutdowns or product defects.

"Depression is by far the leading cause of disability
today. . . . We are also seeing people today working
harder and longer, but not more productively," said
Mr. Wilkerson, former CEO of insurer Liberty Health.

The roundtable is a volunteer organization of senior
business executives and health professionals concerned
about mental health issues, Mr. Wilkerson said. It does
not receive government funding, but is associated with
public institutions such as Hamilton's McMaster University.
GPC Canada has donated office space and aims to give
widespread distribution to the panel's first report,
the result of 18 months of preparation and research by
Mr. Wilson, Mr. Bastable, Mr. Wilkerson and psychiatrist
Russell Joffe, dean of health sciences at McMaster.

With yesterday's report, the roundtable embarked on a
public information campaign aimed at educating CEOs
about the impact of stress on their workers. The
panel outlined some of the steps employers can take
to ease the pressure.

Early detection and referrals to treatment are key,
Mr. Wilkerson said. If an employee complains that
he or she is overworked, the boss should not respond
by saying "join the club."

Increased volumes of E-mail, voice mail, and longer
office hours are contributing heavily to stress
levels, he said.

Employers should install filtering devices on e-mail
and voice mail systems to cut down on junk mail,
said Mr. Wilkerson, who knows of people who delay
going to work in the morning because "they don't
want to see that blinking light."

The roundtable report said a principal cause of
tress among employees is a "prolonged sense . . .
of constant catchup, interruption and distraction.

"Over time, such stress can trigger mental distress,
which may further evolve to a medical condition among
some. Individuals experience stress when they are
forced to spend hours upon hours digging through
electronic messages -- some trivial and some relevant
to their work -- which build up overnight, during
the day or even through the lunch break," the report said.

"E-mail, in this form, contributes to the 24-hour workday."

The roundtable report also singles out "destructive
office politics" as a major cause of stress.

McMaster's Dr. Joffe said stress and depression --
"a disabling and deadly disease" -- are related. Depressed
employees are less able to remember and concentrate, the
quality of their work is affected, and they become
pessimistic and without hope.

The economic costs of ignoring the disorder are high, the
roundtable said in its report.

"Depression costs the [Canadian and U.S.] economy
$60-billion [U.S.] a year; more than half of that
in lost productivity."

TOP 10 SOURCES OF WORKPLACE STRESS

1. Too much or too little to do. The feeling of not
contributing and lacking control.



2. Lack of two-way communication up and down.



3. Being unappreciated.



4. Inconsistent performance management processes.
Employees get raises but no reviews, or get positive
evaluation but are laid off afterward.



5. Career and job ambiguity. Things happen without
the employee knowing why.



6. Unclear company direction and policies.



7. Mistrust. Vicious office politics disrupts
positive behaviour.



8. Doubt. Employees are not sure what is happening,
where things are headed.


9. Random interruptions.



10. The treadmill syndrome: Too much to do at once,
requiring the 24-hour work day.

Source: Business and Economic Roundtable
on Mental Health



Copyright 2000 | The Globe and Mail