Work and mental health

Mental health is not only the absence of mental disorders or serious psychological symptoms, but also psychological balance and well-being. Definitions of mental health emphasise psychological work ability and functional capacity as well as positive emotions.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO 2014), mental health is a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.

Mental health is usually understood as an individual thing, but classifications and definitions related to mental health are culturally changeable.

The relationship between work and mental health hinges on how mental health affects work ability and how work affects psychological coping and well-being. Our understanding of work-related mental health has become more diverse and extensive in recent years, and mental health at work is not limited to diagnosed disorders or the absence of them. 

Besides musculoskeletal disorders, mental health disorders are still the largest group of disorders causing disability.

Many structural factors related to work are reflected in employees’ mental health. For example, jobs with high emotional strain and deadline-related challenges feature a higher rate of mental health issues, such as concentration difficulties, fatigue and feelings of inadequacy.

Good mental health can help get work done. Good working conditions, such as fair supervision, appreciation, meaningful content of work and good processes for organising work, are linked to better mental health at the workplace. 

Having the right amount of work can also bolster mental health through the support of the work community and meaningful tasks. At the population level, being employed is linked to better mental health. 

On the flip side, mental health problems weaken work ability. Still, people can have good work ability despite mental health challenges. Workplaces have many means of supporting work ability to promote coping at work.

Supporting mental health at the workplace involves offering more resources to employees in their work, observing shortcomings and addressing them, and supporting employees who have become overworked or unwell.

Mental health can be strengthened at workplaces with everyday practices that support mental health, such as

• fair management and supervisory work
• receiving appreciation of one’s work
• good organisation of work and the right amount of work  
• meaningful tasks
• ensuring competence  
• being mindful of the well-being perspective in situations of organisational change.
• addressing inappropriate treatment, which is also required by law.

The absence of these practices is a psychosocial risk factor at work and linked to deteriorated mental health and, for example, the risk of depression.

Read more about promoting equality among employees: Equality and non-discrimination (tyosuojelu.fi)

Mental health at work can also be strengthened by various measures or interventions.

Effective methods include

• psychotherapy
• promoting physical activity
• partial sickness allowance
• work-related modifications
• career coaching.

So far, there is not as much evidence of workplace-level support measures targeting the work community, but one example of an effective means of support is participatory planning of working time in shift work. 

Read more about work-related modifications when a mental disorder affects work ability: Mind and job accommodation.

Stressful situations in one’s private life are also mental health risk factors. When an employee encounters stressful life events or is suffering from a mental health disorder, work ability at the workplace can be supported by work arrangements and an understanding attitude.