WORLD Mental Health Day, observed on Oct 10 each year, is an opportunity to focus on an oft-neglected aspect of one’s well-being. The theme for 2024, ‘Mental Health at Work’, highlights the urgent need to address mental well-being within professional environments.

With a significant portion of adult life spent at work, creating healthy workplaces becomes not just an ethical responsibility but also an economic necessity. Workplaces that fail to prioritise mental health can contribute to burnout, anxiety, depression, and other serious issues, while those that do foster mental well-being help employees thrive both professionally and personally.

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Workplace stress and mental health issues have gained increasing attention in recent years across the globe, but the situation is concerning in Pakistan. The prevalence of mental disorders in Pakistan is estimated to be as high as 10pc, affecting approximately 20m people. Despite such staggering numbers, mental health remains a stigmatised topic, particularly in professional settings where discussing mental well-being is often viewed as a sign of weakness. The challenges of job insecurity, excessive workloads, and limited access to mental health resources exacerbate the problem, leaving many employees to struggle in silence.

For a developing country like ours, where the workforce is already strained due to economic pressures, addressing mental health at work is critical. Low wages and poor working conditions, especially in sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture, and even the burgeoning digital economy, only intensify the crisis. In many cases, employees hesitate to seek help for fear of being judged or seen as incompetent. This reinforces the cycle of untreated mental health issues that can lead to reduced productivity, absenteeism, and high turnover rates, all of which affect the national economy.

Pakistan suffers from a lack of institutional support and policies that address mental health in the workplace. Unlike many developed nations, where employee assistance programmes, flexible work arrangements, and mental health awareness training are becoming standard, such initiatives are rare in our corporate and industrial sectors. This gap underscores the need for both a cultural shift and legislative reforms to promote mental well-being at work.

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The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of mental health in every aspect of life, including the workplace. As remote work becomes more common, especially in the IT and services sectors, the boundaries between work and personal life have blurred, leading to heightened stress. The emphasis on mental health at work could not be more timely, urging employers to rethink how they support their employees.

On this World Mental Health Day, the message is clear: mental health at work must become a priority. There must be a concerted effort in Pakistan to initiate conversations about mental health in the workplace. It is only by addressing these issues that we can create an inclusive, productive, and healthier workforce.

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2024