Burnout, great resignation create

HUMAN RESOURCES | Business and organizational leaders urged to take workplace

BY NELSON BENNETT NBENNETT@BIV.COM

In a 2021 paper, Mental Health Research Canada warned of a pending “echo pandemic” –one that would be more mental than physical.

“The COVID-19 pandemic will likely result in a large increase in the incidence and prevalence of anxiety and depression and experts are already warning of an ‘echo pandemic’ of mental health problems,” the paper warned. WorkSafeBC confirms that mental health claims are indeed up. It accepted 1,997 psychological injury claims in 2022 – a 14 per cent increase over 2021 and a 227 per cent increase since 2017. The No. 1 sector for psychological injury claims in 2022 was nursing, followed by paramedics, social and community service workers, corrections officers and teachers and teachers’ assistants. More than 60 per cent of accepted psychological injury claims stemmed from traumatic incidents.

More generally, Canadian workers may be suffering from increased stress and burnout – a consequence of the “great resignation” – that can cause or aggravate anxiety and mood disorders, depression or substance abuse.

There were more than 900,000 unfilled job vacancies in Canada in 2022, which suggests many Canadian workers may be struggling with increased workloads and workplace stress.

But there may also be increased reporting of issues that went unreported in the past, thanks to growing awareness and acceptance of mental health issues as a legitimate workplace hazard. About 30 per cent of disability claims in Canada are attributed to mental health problems, according to the Mental Health Commission of Canada. These claims cost the Canadian economy $50 billion annually.

Mental health problems in the workplace had been increasing well before the pandemic, said Michael Daniels , who has researched workplace stress as an assistant professor at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business.

“The pandemic certainly had a worsening effect,” Daniels said. “There may be a real effect here.

People are probably becoming more mentally unhealthy and unwell. But, also, there is an uptick, partially due to the fact that stigma is starting to be reduced.

“Certainly you see people more willing to report it and talk about it, and it’s almost impossible to disentangle how much of that is just due to increased awareness, versus how much of it is a real decline in mental health.”

Generally speaking, younger workers are more prone to mental health issues manifesting in the workplace than older workers, according to a number of studies.

“If you look at the 55-and-up population, the rates of mental health are pretty steady,” Daniels said. “Certainly there was an increase during the pandemic, but nothing like what you see for younger workers.

“They don’t have the same sort of financial support. They don’t have stability in their careers as much. And they’re also just generally more social creatures. The social isolation is probably one of the biggest problems that was affecting us before the pandemic and then was accelerated by the pandemic.”

In 2021, to address mental wellness in the workplace, WorkSafeBC launched a three-year program – the Psychological Health and Safety Initiative. It focuses largely on prevention, and its main goal is simply to raise awareness of psychological health in the workplace in B.C.

Canada Life also has a program – Workplaces Strategies for Mental Health – aimed at helping employers address mental wellness in the workplace. It provides employers resources for workplace mental health, including slides and handouts that can be used to hold workshops. It also provides assessments that employers can use to assess psychological health and safety in the workplace.

“We always knew that the mental health of employees –every employee, not just the one who has a diagnosis – is directly connected to their focus and energy in the workplace,” said Mary Ann Baynton , director of