Mental Health Awareness Week 2023
April 26 2021
Read moreAnxiety is a feeling of restlessness and unease caused by fear, nervousness, worry or increased instances of stress. With over 8.2 million reported cases of anxiety in the UK in 2013, it’s one of the more common emotional disorders. And when left unaddressed, it can develop into other underlying conditions such as depression.
While it’s normal for everyone to experience cases of increased stress, when this feeling remains constant and harder to control, it can start to affect daily life.
In the workplace, managing someone with anxiety requires education on anxiety disorders as well as its symptoms, effects and causes.
When an employee can’t work due to anxiety, according to UK regulations, they may be entitled to receive employment and support allowance (ESA).
At Health Assured, we offer a 24/7 counselling service as part of our employee assistance programme (EAP). Contact the team for immediate support with employees experiencing anxiety. Call us free on 0844 892 2493.
This piece explores the steps you can take to help an employee dealing with anxiety.
Anxiety is much more than feeling stressed. It’s when the feeling of anxiousness doesn’t go away even after the situation that causes it is over. It should then come as no surprise some employees may be unable to work due to anxiety.
Organisations tend to perform better when their staff are healthy both physically and mentally. One of the ways to achieve this is to provide effective support to employees dealing with anxiety at work.
By supporting your staff members when they experience mental health problems, as well as retaining valuable staff and saving on the cost of hiring new staff members, you’re also sending a message to other employees about your organisation’s values.
In the UK, there aren’t any regulations related to disclosing anxiety issues to an employer. However, doing so can help you to provide them with appropriate support to ensure their recovery.
Once disclosed, there are many ways to manage anxiety at work. The first and most important thing is to create a culture that encourages your staff to be open about their mental health.
This step is essential to eliminate the stigma attached to ill mental health. Make sure you’ve established a company culture that puts employees’ health and wellbeing at the forefront of everything it does.
To achieve this, your staff must understand their mental health matters as much as their physical health.
Consider putting a mental health strategy and policies in place, one that provides them with support when needed—as opposed to discriminating against them.
Other ways to manage anxiety at work include:
We created a guide for employees on coping with anxiety. In it, we define anxiety and explore the physical and emotional symptoms of it. We also suggest some methods of support that can help get your staff on their way to recovery.
Our team of experienced counsellors are on hand to speak to your employees about issues stemming from their work or personal lives. Call us now on 0844 892 2493 for more information on our employee assistance programme.
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