Work is biggest cause of stress in people's lives

Research commissioned by Mind has found that work is the most stressful factor in people’s lives, with one in three people saying their work life was either very or quite stressful, more so than debt or financial problems (30%) or health (17%).

Stress at work has often caused people to resort to alcohol and drugs to cope. Nearly three in five people (57%) say they drink after work and one in seven (14%) drink during the working day to cope with workplace stress and pressure.

The findings also show that a culture of fear and silence about stress and mental health problems is costly to employers.

Other key findings from the report include:

• One in five take a day off sick because of stress, but 90% of those people cited a different reason for their absence.
• One in ten have resigned from a job due to stress and one in four have considered resigning due to work pressure.
• One in five felt they couldn’t tell their boss if they were overly stressed.
• Of the 22% who have a diagnosed mental health problem, less than half had actually told their boss about their diagnosis.
• Over half of managers (56%) said they would like to do more to improve staff mental wellbeing but they needed more training and/ or guidance, and 46% said they would like to do more but it is not a priority in their organisation.