Is Your Mental Health affected by your work place ?

Most of us spend a good portion of our day at work. If 8 hours of your day is filled with toxicity, it can significantly affect your mental health. Research shows that a toxic workplace is a source of psychological strain which can lead to counter productive behaviour and ruin efficiency. It causes disengagement amongst employees, decreases productivity, stunts creativity and innovation and results in high employee turnover.

Here’s a quick guide to spotting a toxic workplace –

• A sabotaging boss who sets you up for failure.
• Micro management.
• Excessive gossip.
• Discrimination and favoritism.
• Group-ism and ostracizing.
• Bullying and harassment.
• Unrealistic workloads.
• Non-constructive criticism.
• Unpredictable work schedule.
• Lack of opportunities for growth.

Here are a few health problems brought on by working in a toxic workplace.

• Depression- Working in an environment where a boss or a colleague seems to mute your talents and self-worth can cause you to feel low self-esteem, helpless and powerless. Many studies have revealed that perceptions of unfairness and inequality were commonly associated with increased chances of becoming clinically depressed.
• Insomnia- A toxic work environment can lead you to experience anxious thoughts at night, which can prevent you from getting enough quality sleep. Sleepless nights over the long-term can impact your judgement, clarity of thought and perspective.
• Fatigue- even when we say that we are going to stop working, we do not. This can make us feel fatigued, for example, if your boss is sending you an email at 11pm, they are showing you that boundaries do not matter. With technology employers are expecting employees to always be “available”
• Paranoia- Toxic work environments breed instability, fear and uncertainty – add poor/lack of communication to this mix and you have got a toxic cocktail.
• Negative outlook- When you work in a toxic workplace you are more inclined to engage in negative self-talk and complain about your job. When you are not able to pull yourself out of this negative mindset, you have more of a chance to become addicted to the drama which can be harmful to your health in the long run.

Never let your job impact your health negatively. It makes no sense to allow yourself to endure a job that does not value you as a professional and as a human being.