Workplace stress is rampant in India, it seems. So found a survey conducted by Cigna TTK Health Insurance. It revealed that 95 per cent of Indians in the age group 18-34 (so called millennials) suffer from stress compared to the global average of 86 per cent. It also suggests that work is the most important trigger amongst them.

Tanya Percy Vasunia, psychologist and outreach associate, MPower, a mental health centre based in Mumbai, cites the case of a 28-year-old woman who has been struggling at her workplace — a big law firm in the city. “It all started when she missed an email and a colleague was nasty to her. This triggered mild anxiety that led her to be extremely hard on herself,” says Vasunia, The lawyer started feeling the need to check and answer email even at odd hours at night. This resulted in pressure on her personal life and she ended up feeling constantly exhausted. “Eventually, she’d end up crying in the office washroom a few times every day,” says Vasunia.

The team at MPower worked to boost the young woman’s self-esteem and trained her to tackle her anxiety through cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). This therapy helps patients understand thoughts and beliefs that influence behaviours and develop personal coping strategies.

There are several factors that contribute to office stress. Inadequate health and safety policies, poor communication and management practices, low level of support for employees, unclear tasks, high and unrelenting workload, lack of team cohesion and social support are some of them. Also, bullying and psychological harassment (known as mobbing) are commonly-reported causes of work-related stress.

If the superior or boss has a negative attitude, the situation can worsen, points out Dr Subhrangsu Aditya, faculty member, Centre for Counselling Services and Studies in Self Development, Jadavpur University, Calcutta. He cites a recent case in which a bright, sincere and efficient worker quit his job because of the attitude of his boss. He was pushed to meet target after target without a break while his team members were allowed to relax.

Says Aditya, “Later, an enquiry revealed that the other team members were recruited through recommendations of an influential person. The boss wanted to keep these new recruits happy at the expense of this sincere and efficient youngster in order to ensure his own promotion and salary hike.” As a result of this discrimination and resultant pressure, the bright young man put down his papers and joined a PhD programme.

Says Vasunia, “Most supervisors are busy meeting targets. They do not have adequate training on how to allocate workload or tackle a tricky situation.” Sometimes bosses, out of sheer insecurity or ill will, keep thrusting trivial work on employees to keep them at work way beyond office hours. This can adversely affect the employee’s personal life.

A frustrated employee can pass on the stress to the family — spouses or children. He or she may also suffer from indigestion, headache, fitful sleep with nightmares, restlessness, palpitation and even have suicidal thoughts. “In extreme cases, we prescribe a high dose of anti-anxiety drugs,” says Aditya. He, however, believes counselling the victim or offering therapy is not the solution in such cases. The problem has to be dealt with at the source.

“Supervisors should be given proper training on leadership and management or emotional intelligence,” he says. “Authorities should introduce employee feedback system or 180-degree assessment. Like UGC’s anti-ragging portal, the Union human resource development ministry can make a portal for workplace mental health. If, after training, the manager or supervisor still continues to harass the employees, the person should be removed from the position,” he adds.

Such is the competitive environment in most workplaces these days that employees are willing to do loads of extra work. This, in turn, hampers their personal life and jeopardises mental stability. Vasunia suggests people to maintain a work-life balance by creating a boundary between the two.

“Refrain yourself from using gad-gets connected to work during family time, avoid responding to emails at odd hours and do not carry any work home,” she says. She also advises to take a break from work from time to time and go for short vacations. “Enjoy quality time with family, exercise or do yoga regularly, take time out to meet friends. Remember that work is related with a fit body and healthy mind. So do work in a sustainable way by balancing both work and life,” she says.

If you can do that, you’ll be able to get the better of work stress.