Flourish Health & Wellbeing eMag - Sept25 - Flipbook - Page 33
The Reluctance to Disclose
Mental Health Barriers
It’s no secret that workers may feel
reluctant to disclose a condi琀椀on
based on s琀椀gma琀椀sa琀椀on, and this can
contribute to increased absenteeism
due to mental health condi琀椀ons.
Sta琀椀s琀椀cally, the 琀椀me lost due to
mental health condi琀椀ons between
2020/21 was four 琀椀mes greater than
physical injuries. While there are
more workplace ini琀椀a琀椀ves in place in
contemporary work environments,
we are not out of the woods.
According to Diversity Council
Australia, more than 50% of Aussie
workers conceal or hide their
condi琀椀on due to fears of facing
discrimina琀椀on or s琀椀gma琀椀sa琀椀on.
Coupled with workplace
psychosocial risks, this can present
a realm of issues that can impact
the wellbeing of your employees.
But never fear, there are steps you
can take to minimise and manage
psychosocial hazards.
WHAT ARE
Psychosocial Risks?
Before we get into how we can reduce
psychosocial risks in the workplace, let’s
昀椀rst iden琀椀fy what a psychosocial hazard is.
Psychosocial risks are factors, condi琀椀ons and
experiences at work that may contribute to an
employee’s poor physical and mental health
outcomes. They can arise from a number of
signi昀椀cant risks, including, but not limited to:
• Excessive workloads
• Con昀氀ic琀椀ng demands and poor context of work
• Lack of in昀氀uence over the way the job is done
• Poorly managed organisa琀椀onal change or job
insecurity
• Ine昀昀ec琀椀ve communica琀椀on or lack of support
from management and colleagues
• Psychological and/or sexual harassment
• Third-party violence
Over 琀椀me, employees who are in an environment
where these factors play a major role in their
everyday working lives can begin to experience
adverse mental health outcomes such as workrelated stress, burnout or depression.
