Will the employment sector suffice to address mental health?

By Jean Baptiste Ndabananiye.

The World Economic Forum [WEF] states that employers of all sizes and sectors bear an imperative to fulfill a central responsibility in the sector of mental health across the globe, because “In fact, evidence shows that employment can improve mental health outcomes to a greater extent than psychiatric care.”  However, there prevails a question of the significance of the intervention of employers in dealing with this gigantic health issue, while other big mental health challenges still persist.

Mental health problems are not just pounding one region, but instead the whole world. Different sources including the WHO substantiate it.

A top official at the World Health Organization [WHO] labels mental health challenges as the “next pandemic” on the global horizon, according to Anadolu Ajansi [Anadolu Agency]’s recent story. “Mental health issues (are what) I call the next pandemic,” WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge told Anadolu, Turkey’s state-run news agency accomplishing a substantial role in news dissemination in Turkey and internationally quoted him.

The WEF also echoes this WHO official, stating “The world is grappling with a global mental health crisis that shows little sign of receding, the rise in living costs and mounting global challenges compounding pre-existing issues and increasing uncertainty for many.”

According to Anadolu in its 9 May 2024 story, Kluge said “The latest data from the EU shows that one out of six people in the EU has some distress, anxiety, and sleeping problems.”

“With work being so central to people’s lives and sense of identity, businesses have a responsibility to provide working environments that enable current and future generations of employees to thrive and adapt to a fast-changing world. Roughly 15% of the global working-age population suffers from mental illness according to the World Health Organization [WHO] affecting not just individual lives and relationships, but also the world of work. Depression and anxiety cost the global economy approximately $1 trillion– or 12 billion days of lost work – each year,” says the WEF.

“Recent research by Deloitte   shows that Gen Zs and millennials, who make up the vast majority of the working population, are particularly impacted, with 40% of Gen Zs and 35% of millennials feeling stressed or anxious all or most of the time and nearly half experiencing workplace burnout.

The business [carries an] imperative to act on mental health. These figures call for urgent action. They present employers of all sizes and sectors with an imperative to better understand the interactions of work and mental health – in terms of how work can protect or undermine well-being and how mental health challenges impact the performance and attitudes of people in the workplace. Good work and good health go hand in hand.”

These mental health challenges that the world is now experiencing figure among huge woes which had been predicted for the 21^st century. Oxford Academic, the online platform for Oxford University Press’s academic journals, published the book “Health Promotion for Pharmacists (2nd edn)” in December 1999. Its chapter 3 titled “Major health challenges facing the 21^st century” places mental health-related issues among the challenges for this century, besides heart disease and stroke, and cancers, among others.

Root causes and challenges of rampant mental health problems

The National Library of Medicine, the world’s largest biomedical library and a part of the National Institutes of Health in the United States of America  published an article “Challenges and chances for mental health care in the 21st century” in September 2022. It reads “Challenges for global mental health in­clude climate change, displacement of large populations due to war and poverty, income inequality, and inadequate health care services.

These challenges interact, as climate change can reduce food production and increase violent conflicts, which may displace large parts of the local population, who then face income inequalities and inadequate health care services in the host countries. Income inequality and local pov­erty are major risk factors for distress, which escalate the mental health burden.”

WHO through its 17 June 2022 article stated “Social and economic inequalities, public health emergencies, war, and the climate crisis are among the global, structural threats to mental health.  Across countries, it is the poorest and most disadvantaged in society who are at greatest risk of mental ill-health and who are also the least likely to receive adequate services.”

WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus then said “Good mental health translates to good physical health. The inextricable links between mental health and public health, human rights and socioeconomic development mean that transforming policy and practice in mental health can deliver real, substantive benefits for individuals, communities and countries everywhere. Investment into mental health is an investment into a better life and future for all.”

Kluge underlined that in certain EU countries, the youngest children pass approximately six hours a day in front of screens, though he didn’t specify the age range of these children. He warned that they are exposed to all kinds of “unregulated advertising or violence” or sometimes a picture symbolizing “a perfect body” which prompts their anxiety.

Proposed solutions to mental health challenges

WEF: businesses are to be at the frontline

The WEF argues that the business world can lead a global response to the global mental health crisis. In this regard, it calls for collation for a more effective response. “Faced with a challenge of this magnitude, no individual company or leader can be expected to find the answers on their own. This is why organizations across industries and geographies are coming together in a number of collaborative initiatives to better understand issues, share best practices and find common solutions.”

It adds that its Health Workforces Initiative stands as an intervention designed to contribute to that response. According to the WEF, this initiative brings together more than 50 global organizations enhancing the physical and mental health of employees, their families and their communities. These organizations are selected from the public and private sectors, academia and civil society. “The initiative aims to bring visibility to best practices, relevant measurements and the business case for making investments in mental health initiatives within the workplace.”

This forum further says that it is for the same reason that the Global Business Collaboration for Better Workplace Mental Health [CBC] was created in Davos in 2021. This was to create a platform for collaboration between businesses, mental health experts and strategic partners, including the World Economic Forum. “In the three-year span of the campaign, the GBC has engaged 175 companies in 62 countries, with their most senior leaders signing its Leadership Pledge  and committing their organizations to prioritize workplace mental health through six key actions.

Many corporate leaders now recognize they have a responsibility to support employee mental health and are working together to identify common issues and share solutions.”

The WEF points out that the culmination of the GBC campaign, namely the publication of in-depth research, is useful in the matter. It specifies that the research has been founded on responses from 12,000 workers in 12 countries, including a number of Global South markets with limited prior data on workplace mental health. The ensuing report, The Global Picture: Mental Health in the Workplace, provides alarming statistics of the intensity among workforces.  “Over half of respondents say they are experiencing, or have experienced, mental health challenges – with that proportion reaching 65% among Gen Zs.

Among those affected, a third have been less productive or have considered leaving their job. Overall, only 56% of respondents believe that supporting employee mental health is a high priority for their employer. And, half of those who have shared mental health challenges with their line manager say they have been discriminated against as a result.”

“Yet, the report also shows that many indicators improve radically when heads of organizations speak up about mental health or when line managers are equipped to hold supportive conversations. This shows the impact that employers can have when they make supporting wellbeing a strategic priority and signposts to the most effective actions leaders can take in de-stigmatizing mental health in the workplace.”

WHO and SDG Move: wars and poverty represent a mental health burden

Both organs advocate for factors exacerbating mental health problems to stop, if this area of mental health is to be ensured.

Exemplifying the current war between Israel and Hamas in Palestine’s Gaza, Kluge said “‘Peace, permanent cease-fire in Gaza is the most important medicine. What we need most urgent is peace. Peace and a permanent cease-fire is the most important medicine because when there is a war and hospitals are being destroyed, of course, there is a breeding ground for infectious diseases, for mental diseases. Of course, a very basic need is food. This is very important.”

“WHO advocates for a cease-fire, not to attack hospitals because this is a big issue. At the same time, all hostages have to be returned and while they are in captivity, they must have to access medical care. The principle of WHO is health for all, we cannot politicize health.” Instead, the war in Gaza risks metastasizing, involving more countries in the region and even superpowers.

Poverty and conflicts are deeply interconnected. Poverty triggers conflict and the latter one also sparks the former one. Whenever these issues still exist, efforts to eradicate diseases will remain unsuccessful, even the SDGs will never be achieved. Though the following details don’t explicitly address mental health; they certainly, but indirectly, tell us that these issues highlighted below have created mental health problems.

“The changing global power landscape significantly affects health beyond the direct casualties. International conflicts lead to widespread disruptions in healthcare services, from vaccination campaigns to preventing non-communicable diseases, besides providing adequate maternal and child healthcare. The reemergence of polio in Pakistan and Afghanistan illustrates the threatening health consequences of conflict. Similarly, Yemen’s cholera outbreak from 2016 to 2022, the largest in history, has not only resulted in countless deaths but also highlighted the fragility of health systems in war-torn regions.

The conflict has severely hampered access to clean water and sanitation, creating a breeding ground for cholera and other waterborne diseases,” states SDG Move in its June 5, 2024 article.  SDG Move focuses on supporting the implementation and monitoring of the United Nations SDGs by connecting research, policy, and practice to promote sustainable development.

It further states “The healthcare infrastructure in Yemen has been destroyed, with hospitals bombed, medical supplies dwindling, and healthcare workers often working in dangerous conditions. The tragic situation in Yemen serves as a stark reminder of how geopolitical conflicts can devastate health systems and communities, making global solidarity and action more important than ever.

Epidemics during war worsen the situation, with public health officials often unable to control disease outbreaks. Notably, fragile areas affected by war are hotspots for outbreaks, with more than 70% of global outbreaks occurring in such regions.”

These details indicate that focusing just on one aspect like workplace mental health doesn’t suffice to effectively and sustainably address this scourge of global mental health crisis. It demands taking a holistic approach. In the meanwhile, handling the workplace mental health problem stands urgent, as it is even illustrated in this article.