Stressed London Workers Suffering in Silence, Reveals Mental Health Charity

Mental Health Charity Re-Launches with Poll Announcement

The ‘Together’ poll reveals that half of all employees think stress in the workplace is a “serious problem”, with 1 in 5 saying it is on the increase. Almost half believe that their career will suffer if they admit to their employers feeling any stress at work.

Announcing the findings, Together’s Chief Executive, Gil Hitchon, said:

“These findings demonstrate that not only is stress in the workplace a serious problem, but there is still a powerful stigma attached to admitting being stressed at work. Far too many workers are suffering in silence and feel they have nowhere to go for support.”

One in four workers revealed that they are aware of a colleague whose mental wellbeing and career has suffered as a result of stress in the workplace.

Over half of employees feel that their employer does not fully recognize the extent of workplace stress, and does not have adequate procedures in place to manage stress-related problems. A majority said that there was a need for other organizations to work with employers to provide specialist support.

Gil Hitchon added:

“Maintaining a genuine work-life balance is increasingly difficult. Employees, as well as employers, do not feel they get the support they need to cope with stress, and as a result stress related problems too frequently build into more serious mental health conditions.

“Employers have responsibilities to employees as well as their shareholders. We should all do more to help tackle this social problem. This includes forming partnerships to provide a level of specialist support that meets the demand and recognizes the scale of the problem.”

‘Together: Working for Wellbeing‘ is the new name for the mental health charity Maca (Mental After Care Association). The organization is changing its name and mission to reflect changing times and changing demands.

Commenting on the re-launch, Julia Ross, Together’s Chair of Trustees said:

“We chose ‘Together: Working for Wellbeing’ for a number of reasons, not least that we always try, as a service-provider, not to do things to people or for them, but to work together with them. And we plan to work increasingly with communities, as well as individuals.”

The launch of the new name, ‘Together’, will be marked by a conference about happiness and wellbeing at Glaziers Hall, London. The conference will explore how mental health services can help people to be happier, and discuss some of the latest thinking from mental health service users around the world.

Key Findings of the Poll

• Over 40% think in general people’s careers suffer if they admit to suffering from stress in the workplace;
• 50% think stress in the workplace is a serious problem - and 1 in 5 think it is worse than it used to be;
• 26% of those polled know someone whose mental wellbeing has suffered because of stress at work;
• 44% say their employer has established processes for dealing with problems of stress, 29% say the firm would ‘cut them a bit of slack’ but not do anything, 16% say someone’s career would suffer;
• More than half say their company would be sympathetic and offer active support to someone experiencing stress, about a third say they’d be sympathetic but regard it as a private matter, 7% say their employer would be unsympathetic;
• 50% think employers have a great deal of responsibility to help employees with these problems, and a further 40% say they have some responsibility;
• 75% think it would be best if support was provided by outside specialist organisations;

The poll was conducted by Populus Limited during June 2005. They surveyed 503 workers across different positions in the City of London.

About Mental Health Charity Services

The charity ‘Together’ runs a wide range of mental health services across the country, including:

• supporting families, friends and carers tackling mental illness
• developing new types of support service to meet the changing requirements of people who have experienced mental distress
• working with local communities to help them understand mental-health issues
• campaigning against the mistreatment of and discrimination against people who have experienced mental distress