Anxiety in the workplace
This week marks Mental Health Awareness Week, a worldwide annual event dedicated to raising awareness for mental health issues we all face. This year’s theme is ‘Anxiety’, a common mental health condition affecting millions around the world. In this blog post, we will be discussing the importance of recognising and understanding anxiety. We will be talking about the common causes of anxiety, how anxiety may be affecting people in the workplace and ways in which HR professionals can support their employees’ mental well-being.
What is Anxiety?
Anxiety is a feeling of unease, such as worry or fear, that can be mild or severe. It’s described as a natural reactionary response to situations that you may deem to be threatening or dangerous. However, if anxiety persists for a prolonged period, it can have a detrimental impact on our health and well-being.
This year, Champion Health discovered the impact of anxiety on UK employees through The Workplace Health Report. Key findings found that 60% of employees are experiencing anxiety yet only 10% of employees are seeking mental health support.
Causes of Anxiety
Work-related stress is one of the leading causes of anxiety. Issues that lead to work-related stress include: 
- Heavy workloads
- Long working hours
- Job insecurity
- Lack of support from colleagues or managers
- And many more
Anxiety can manifest in various ways outside of the workplace, such as relationship troubles, financial worries, and health issues to name a few. Many external factors can impact an individual’s anxiety levels – as an HR professional, it’s essential to consider others’ mental state and provide support wherever possible. By recognising the impact these stresses have on their mental health, you’ll be in a better position to help combat them.
As HR professionals, you should always be on the lookout for symptoms of anxiety in the workplace and provide support to employees who may be struggling. However, it’s also important that you seek support and guidance from others should you succumb to anxiety yourself as no one should struggle alone.
Supporting mental wellbeing
So how can HR professionals support their employees’ mental well-being and provide a supportive work environment? Firstly, it’s important to establish a culture of openness and transparency, where employees feel comfortable discussing any mental health concerns they may have. You should make any mental health resources, such as wellbeing portals or counselling services, readily available to provide everyone access to support whenever it’s required. It may also be important to consider flexible working arrangements and provide regular check-ins with employees to help alleviate work-related stress and anxiety.
An essential part of every business should be the educating of mental health and the impact that it can have on your well-being. This can be provided through mental health training sessions/courses to better inform and raise awareness on common mental health conditions, highlighting the best means of managing them. It’s time to remove the stigma around mental health and encourage our people that support is available and accessible for everyone whenever it’s required.
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