MENTAL HEALTH IN TODAY’S WORK CULTURE

All of us are striving to achieve success in this world, engaged in a rat race that does not promise any rewards. Frequently success for us is synonymous with material affluence, and we ultimately lose track of our mental health.

So we go on, struggling day and night, in pursuit of a wealth that alludes us, and that which, when achieved, is never enough. Recent studies have found out that this competitive and work-based environment that we live in has adverse effects on our mental health, causing anxiety, depression, and even neurosis. 

Alienation

The current structures of work environment create feelings of isolation and general loss of meaning in life. Separation, as stated by Marx, is the chief element behind this isolation and dissociation. 

• Workers are engaged in producing a final product over which they have no control.
• Factory workers are involved in repetitive and menial work for years with little to no rewards.
• Those who have higher pay and work in offices or the IT sector are expected to work overtime without any promise of a bonus. 

It appears that the impetus for success in today’s society is based on one’s ability to overwork. Insecurity takes root when one does not have enough work experience or falls short of the set working standards.

Repetitive work, not being able to access the product of their work, and receiving no credit for the work done causes dissociation in the minds of the workers: man gets alienated from his “productive power” and, in turn, feels lost and useless.

Overtime work also leaves no time for a person to socialise and engage in activities other than their work. Thus, man loses contact with his family and friends. A work culture so embedded in squeezing the most out of the worker leads to feelings of emptiness and fatigue in the individual.

Therefore, it is not surprising when all of these factors converge to create mental unrest, anxiety, and depression among humans.

Inequality and Harassment

Workplaces also encounter inequality and harassment, both occurrences which have a relatively more enormous amount of female victims. Inequality in wages, promotion, and treatment are not uncommon experiences for women in an average office. Moreover, women hesitate to negotiate for their dues partially because of the genuine possibility that they might get rejected and partly due to the societal expectations of well-mannered “ladylike” behaviour from them. 

Apart from this, harassment (sexual or otherwise) is a significant issue that many working women face. Surveys have revealed increasingly horrifying statistics of working women that have faced sexual harassment of some kind. Also, since almost all workplaces are hierarchical, abuse of power by a higher authority on a subordinate, regardless of their gender, is not rare. 

All of these causes, independently or otherwise, are enough for a person to develop anxiety, depression, or extreme mental stress. Mental health is compromised when one has to face a toxic work environment while coping with alienation. 

The mental health of each individual is of utmost importance. Hence, a work culture that is oriented towards the betterment of the individual without causing them burnout or mental distress would be optimal for the development of both the institution and the individual.