Tag: telecommuting mental health

Categories
News

Pandemic Employees Mental Health Declines

Declining mental health states and increased substance abuse are at the top of recent employee concerns during the pandemic. Followed by feelings of uncertainty and fear, being bombarded by negative news, changes in work-style including performance demands and evaluation, uncomfortable and difficult home environments, uncertain financial and/or job security, declining health status, and childcare issues. Then, to top it off, there are concerns about COVID-19 exposure, potential burnout, depression, and suicidal ideation.

The Top Mental Health Concerns

1. Mental health concerns
2. Increased substance abuse
3. Feelings of uncertainty and fear
4. Negative news
5. Changes in work-style, including performance demands and evaluation, uncomfortable
6. Difficulty managing the home
7. Uncertain financial and/or job security
8. Declining health status
9. Childcare issues
10. The threat of COVID-19 exposure
11. Burnout
12. Depression
13. Suicidal ideation

Essential workers who are required to work with the public report higher rates of declining mental health states than telecommuters.

Adverse Psychological Outcomes

Essential workers, especially healthcare workers, are one-third more likely to suffer from Adverse Psychological Outcomes (APO) than teleworkers who are working from home, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), insomnia, depressive states, and suicidal thoughts. Those with pre-existing conditions such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia are at greater risk of experiencing adverse psychological outcomes.

Women and Minorities

More than half of all adults who are working from home are expressing concerns regarding increased stress, anxiety, and depression. Disproportionately hit demographics include women and minorities. 25% of the female workers are opting out of the workforce voluntarily to tend to their families during the pandemic.

Families

For work from home families, whatever degree of home management, which was maintained pre-pandemic, fell apart when one or more family members began to telecommute, and schools and daycares were closed. It is almost too much to ask someone to do, especially for single parents working from home.

The shutdown of schools and daycares have put an incredible amount of undue stress on working and non-working families alike.

Men

While women, in general, and primarily single-parent women, are hit hardest during the pandemic reporting their feelings of overwhelm, and greater degrees of anxiety and depression, men are far more likely, 70% more likely, to actually succeed in committing suicide during these unprecedented times. If you are thinking about suicide, please reach out to someone to talk to, or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for English, and 1-888-628-9454 for Spanish.

Unpaid Supporters

Often overlooked are the unpaid friends or family members who are volunteering to accept the increased challenges of lack of childcare resources during the pandemic. These individuals are also seeing a decline in mental health status and as reported, 31% of them have contemplated ending their own lives.

Inner-city domestic violence is up, and rural domestic calls are down (although this is likely due to non-reporting, as students who are not attending school cannot adequately be evaluated for abuse at home).

Children

And with all this talk about who is suffering from mental health decline regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, let’s not forget the children. They are also experiencing a difficult time that they will never forget. Some of them are depressed, confused, feeling isolated, and abused. Since many of them are unable to attend school, the trained professionals who are charged with looking out for their mental health status are MIA (missing in action).

So, keep a watchful eye on our precious little ones and growing youngsters who may be showing changes in their behavior. According to the CDC, signs to look out for include:

  • Excessive crying or irritation in younger children.
  • Returning to behaviors they have outgrown (for example, toileting accidents or bedwetting).
  • Excessive worry or sadness.
  • Unhealthy eating or sleeping habits.
  • Irritability and “acting out” behaviors in teens.
  • Poor school performance or avoiding school.
  • Difficulties with attention and concentration.
  • Avoidance of activities enjoyed in the past.
  • Unexplained headaches or body pain.
  • Use of alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs.

Know what mental health resources are available to you and take advantage of them as needed.

Categories
News

Pandemic Remote Work Statistics Not Good

No doubt many telecommuters are thriving during the pandemic. For the most part these are upper-income office workers whose jobs easily transitioned from the office environment to successfully working from home as they continue to enjoy all the benefits from doing so.

For the rest of the world, things are not looking as optimistic. There are rising rates of domestic violence, depression, suicidal ideation, and mental health services are hard-pressed to meet the growing demand for both remote workers and the increasingly unemployed Americans who are tasked with having to manage work (or lack of work) and surviving during unprecedented times.

Research is ongoing, as we try to get a handle on what we are up against as we all are trying to do our best under such challenging conditions.

As the statistics continue to come in, one research firm (The Martec Group) has provided results of a groups study that confirms, even among those who are telecommuting and working from home, there is growing cause for concern.

According to statistics

32% Pissed Off

The largest segment of teleworking employees (32%) report that they are hugely in opposition of the current work at home conditions. They don’t like working at home, and they think that their employers are not doing a very good job at making adequate arraignments not offering the support necessary to ensure a successful telecommuting environment.

27% Disgruntled

Then there are the employees that also do not like working at home, but they are not blaming their employers at all. As awkward and uncomfortable as it might be, they are of the mind that their employers are doing the best they can with what they have. These account for 27% of the group.

It is disconcerting, that the larger part of the group (59%) is not enjoying the remote working scenario whatsoever. And who would blame them? Who likes being forced to do anything that is outside their comfort zone? (No matter how you try to explain how fortunate they are to have a job.)

Then there are the employees who don’t hate working from home, are not crazy about it and wished they didn’t have to do it, but also think that their employers will come out of the pandemic in good shape (25%), and they believe they will be able to return to work under more normal conditions after the restrictions are lifted.

16% Love It

If you believe the media, you will think the largest segment of the pandemic telecommuters would be those who are enthusiastically celebrating their new life and freedom associated with working from home. But it turns out that only 16% are thriving as the result of working from home, and if given the opportunity to continue to do so would jump at the chance, even if it meant taking a slight pay cut.

84% Do Not Want to Work from Home

It is interesting to note the majority (84%) of these employees are not happy. Not only are they not happy, but they do not want to be working from home.

72% Growing Mental Health Concerns

They feel like they are being forced to work under undesirable conditions, and 72% of them reported growing mental health concerns.

I think we could do better.

 

Categories
News

Looking After Telecommuters

Now that it is clear that telecommuting and working from home is the new business model going into the future, it behooves us to take responsibility for changes in the work environment and to address challenges rapidly as they become apparent.

For instance, remote workers do have a tendency to work longer hours (with or without compensation), they suffer from disconnectedness which leads to depression, and their face-to-face communication skills are dwindling as they get lost in isolation.

Employers who are using telecommuters need to take into consideration that this new workforce segment is in the process of developing special needs that need to be addressed before they become problematic, affecting work performance, and the organization’s bottom line.

And for those working from home, they need to be cognizant of their potential to develop these weaknesses and hopefully, be able to cut them off at the pass.

The emerging concern is that the mental health of telecommuters may be at risk.

Corporate or self-imposed teleworker evaluations must be made to ascertain any potential for being at risk in the work from home environment.

Are your employees adapting well and thriving as they are embracing all the benefits of remote work? Or are they experiencing increased stress levels from no longer working in the safety and security of the office environment they were once accustomed to?

Are they enjoying being able to flex their hours to accommodate personal needs, wants, and desires, and enjoying the freedom that comes from telework? Or are they feeling isolated from coworkers and the world, which may lead to dark psychological challenges?

Are your off-site workers upbeat and enthusiastic about their job performance and personal lives, or is their outlook on life, including professional and personal life, deteriorating?

Are your remote employees healthier since they have been telecommuting, or is their health on the decline since they have been working from home?

What does their diet look like when they are working at home? Are they sleeping soundly, or losing sleep? Do they have an exercise routine?

Do they feel enthusiastic and optimistic? Or are they spending more time focusing on fear of what the future may hold, or worrying more?

Employers, or the telecommuters themselves, must take a proactive approach to making sure that this world of turning a part of your living space into an effective workplace has an ultimately positive impact on one’s life in order to make this transition successful.

Some things you can do include:

Shake up your work at home routine for a better life

Decorate your home work-area to your heart’s content. Surround yourself with all the things that make you feel good.

Change your routine up. Take advantage of the flexibility of your work schedule. Take your breaks out of the house.

Get out and take a walk in nature.

Go to your favorite coffee shop and use their Internet to telecommute from occasionally.

Alternate between sitting and standing positions at your desk.

Make connections and communicate with coworkers that are not related to work.

Start an office pool competition, and whoever wins gets the pot or the prize.

Keep in mind that the worker is the backbone of telecommuting. If you are the teleworker, it just doesn’t work without you. Look after yourself, your wellbeing first, and all these other things will fall into place.