MENTAL HEALTH IN THE WORKPLACE

Mental health and work:

It is now known that most illnesses are influenced by a combination of biological, psychological and social factors.

Mental disorders affect people of all ages in all countries and cause suffering for families, communities and individuals themselves.

In most cases, mental disorders are treatable, enabling people to lead dignified, productive and fulfilling lives in their respective communities.

However, the issue of mental suffering at work has been the subject of studies, mainly due to its high incidence and prevalence in work environments, causing serious harm to the work environment, to the worker, and consequently losses for the employer, in addition to macroeconomic costs.

Work can be an environment that amplifies wider issues that negatively impact mental health, including discrimination and inequality based on factors such as race, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, social background, migrant status, religion or age.

People with severe mental health conditions are more likely to be excluded from employment and, when employed, are more likely to experience inequality at work.  

Being unemployed also poses a risk to mental health.

Unemployment, financial insecurity, and recent job loss are risk factors for suicide attempts.

What is mental health:

According to the World Health Organization, mental health is a state of mental well-being, in which the individual is able to deal with the normal stresses of life, being fully aware of their capabilities, so as to be able to work productively and fruitfully, being able to contribute to the community in which they are inserted.

Therefore, the importance of mental health has been recognized by the WHO since its inception, and is reflected in its definition of health as “not simply the absence of disease or infirmity”, but also “a state of physical, mental and social well-being”.

Main threats to mental health in the workplace:

Lack of work can cause anxiety, but a job is not always synonymous with happiness.

Overwork, poor working conditions, lack of recognition, poor relationships with employers and colleagues, psychological violence, are all contributing factors that can influence mental health.

• Underutilization of skills or lack of qualifications for work;
• Excessive workloads or work pace, lack of staff;
• Long, antisocial or inflexible hours;
• Lack of control over work design or workload;
• Unsafe or precarious physical working conditions;
• Organizational culture that allows negative behaviors;
• Limited peer support or authoritarian supervision;
• Violence, harassment or intimidation;
• Discrimination and exclusion;
• Unclear job function;
• Under or overpromotion;
• Job insecurity, inadequate pay or low investment in career development; and
• Conflicting home/work demands;

Auxiliary actions for mental health, according to the WHO:

Employers, governments, worker-representative organizations and other stakeholders interested in worker safety can help improve workers’ mental health by taking the following actions:

• Prevent work-related mental health conditions by preventing mental health risks at work:

They assume the management of psychosocial risks in the work environment.

WHO recommends that employers do this by implementing organizational interventions, directly targeting working conditions and environments.

Therefore, organizational interventions are those that assess and then mitigate, modify or remove workplace risks to mental health.

Organizational interventions include, for example, providing flexible work arrangements or implementing structures to address violence and harassment at work.  

• Supporting workers with mental health problems to participate and thrive at work:

It means strengthening the ability to recognize and act on mental conditions at work, more specifically in relation to people who occupy positions of supervision of other people, such as managers.

To protect mental health, the following practices are recommended:

• Manager training, that is, managers must be trained in mental health, in order to recognize and respond to supervisors who are experiencing emotional distress, developing their interpersonal skills such as active listening and open communication, promoting a better understanding of the factors contributing to mental health at work;
• Promotion of training for workers in order to enhance greater knowledge and awareness about mental health in the workplace; and
• Interventions for individuals to develop their skills so that workers are able to manage stress and reduce mental health symptoms, promoting psychosocial interventions and opportunities for leisure-time physical activity.

• Supporting workers with mental health problems to participate and thrive at work:

Reasonable accommodations at work should be adopted, welcoming working conditions and environments capable of meeting the needs of workers with a mental health condition.

• Create a favourable environment for change:

All governmental organisations and employers can improve and contribute to mental health, in order to improve mental health conditions, with the following behaviours:

• Leadership, for example by integrating mental health at work into relevant policies;
• Investment, for example by establishing specific budgets for actions to improve mental health at work and making mental health and employment services available to companies with fewer resources;
• Integration, for example by incorporating mental health into existing occupational health and safety systems;
• Rights, for example by aligning labour laws and regulations with international human rights instruments and implementing non-discrimination policies at work;
• Participation, for example by holding meaningful and timely consultations with workers, their representatives and people with lived experience of mental health problems;
• Evidence, for example, ensuring that all guidelines and actions on mental health at work are based on the latest evidence; and
• Compliance with laws, regulations and recommendations, for example by integrating mental health into the responsibilities of national labour inspectorates and other compliance mechanisms.

Actions to address mental health at work should be carried out with the meaningful involvement of workers and their representatives, and of people with lived experience of mental health conditions.

The Cape Verde government’s commitment to mental health:

The Government of Cape Verde recognises the importance of mental health in our society as an inalienable right of every citizen, essential for living with happiness, love, serenity and quality of life.

Positive mental health is a fundamental pillar for building a healthy, prosperous and harmonious society, reflecting the inalienable values of the Cape Verdean people.

Therefore, by means of Resolution no. 1/2024 of 2 January, it was declared the ‘Year of Mental Health in Cape Verde’.

Despite the fact that it has been promoting policies for the well-being of employees in the workplace with regard to mental well-being, such as:

• Declaration of 2024 as the ‘Year of Mental Health in Cape Verde’;
• Expansion and qualification of the mental health services network;
• Implementation of professional training programmes;
• Promotion of awareness campaigns;  
• Creating a healthier working environment.

According to the Minister for the Family, Inclusion and Social Development, Fernando Elísio Freire, mental health in the workplace is extremely important, stressing that ‘we can’t just focus on leadership, despite its fundamental role, but also on healthy collaborations at various levels in labour relations’.

In this regard, he emphasised that creating a healthy working environment must include not only physical safety, but also the psychological well-being of all professionals.

He also emphasised the Cape Verdean government’s commitment to mental health, highlighting actions such as the National Strategic Plan for Mental Health 2021-2025 and the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention.