September 2020 - U.S. Edition in English

Page 22

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Psychological Disorders at Work

Bullying is an extreme form of psychological violence in the workplace.

A 22 | agairupdate.com

Intense working hours, over eight hours, are no longer new in companies, regardless of the size or the segment in which they operate. As the hierarchical level increases, the situation worsens: some managers expect subordinates to be available 24 hours a day and to put their careers above all in their lives. The reaction to that couldn’t be worse. A person who was not aggressive, for example, because of pressure in the work environment, can start to react in this way. As a result, personal relationships, and even at work, start to get worse. The improvements in technology, instead of providing more time for modern man, ended up making him more competitive. To stay in the market, you have to do more, with less! Pressure at work generates anxiety, which is the major culprit for taking away a person’s physical and mental well-being. This characteristic, as simple as it may seem, acts directly on the quality of life of people, causing presenteeism (employees who are not fully functioning in the workplace because of an illness, injury or other condition) in the relationship with family and friends. Many people give themselves up to companies, make personal sacrifices and some even stop a normal lifestyle, postponing such things as marriage and having children. It is necessary to be attentive to this, so the individual can recognize his limits and establish a pace that satisfactorily meets different demands. Bullying is an extreme form of psychological violence in the workplace. It refers to psychological aggressions that are repeated and persist over time, aimed at excluding workers from the work environment. It is configured by

repetitive behaviors of isolation and humiliation. The International Labor Organization (ILO) describes bullying as the behavior of someone to demean a person or group of workers, through vengeful, cruel, malicious or humiliating means against a person or group of workers. Repetitive criticisms and disqualifications, isolating the worker from contact with other workers and spreading false information about him/her. Marie-France, a French psychiatrist, systematized some behaviors, which due to their repetition, association and intentionality, would be characterized as moral harassment. All the behaviors listed above can be considered acts of psychological aggression, even if they do not occur repeatedly or intentionally. Not every situation of violence or psychological aggression at work is technically bullying. Repetition and intentionality are the elements that characterize moral harassment and differentiate it from specific psychological attacks and conflicts in interpersonal relationships. The most frequent psychological violent behaviors are related to: exaggerated pressure to meet goals, constant and strict supervision, use of embarrassing results exposure strategies and comparison between members of the same group, competitiveness beyond ethics, performance evaluation based only on results, the threat of constant dismissal, humiliations directed at a group of workers in the face of less than expected results, among others. Moral harassment is not a new phenomenon, but the new work configurations creates organizational environments conducive to the occurrence of situations of minor and extreme ➤


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