Stigma lifted on dealing with workplace stress

Gao Dongzhi is in the business of dealing with complaints, mostly from agitated people demanding a refund.

He heads the air ticket service team at a Shanghai-based online travel agency. Every day, dozens of employees on his team answer phone calls from customers around the world. The nature of the work means the people they are dealing with are rarely calm.

In late May, Gao participated in a course about mental health in the workplace. The intention of the course, jointly provided by the Shanghai Mental Health Center, or SMHC, and the Shanghai Pilot Health Promotion Center, or SPHPC, was to empower participants to help themselves and those around them deal with mental stress at work.

Gao said that by studying the basics of mental health and self-help methods for groups and individuals, he had mastered some emotional management skills, allowing him to assist stressed co-workers.

Since November, the courses have been provided four times for nearly 300 participants, including doctors, corporate managers, and human resources specialists. The courses will be expanded to more districts in the city, the organizers said.

"Under the current context of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity), how to improve the psychological resilience of employees to adapt to the changing social development and organizational changes of enterprises are what enterprises and individuals are concerned about," said Si Xinli, executive director of SPHPC.

Si said small investments in workers' mental health and emotional management are of great value, "as they can bring happiness and productivity, and will contribute to an encouraging business environment."

He Yuan, vice-chairwoman of the Shanghai Medical Trade Union, was one of the course participants. She said as industries and life move ahead at a fast pace, it is important to help healthcare workers master the knowledge and skills to cope with job stress and perform "psychological first aid".

"Many people run about between work and their family day after day, leaving little time for themselves. As they are the backbone of society and the pillar of their families, it will be good for their families and all of society if they have the right mental state," she said.

The course lecturers, mostly clinical doctors from mental health hospitals, used real cases during the classes. Participants were asked to use what they had learned to spot potential psychological challenges for co-workers who may be in a similar situation, and devise ways to talk to them and ease their concerns.

"The first step is to identify stress in the person," said Zeng Qingzhi, one of the lecturers and a doctor specializing in public health from SMHC.

"There are stress signals from various systems of the human body, as well as signals from emotions, interpersonal relationships, and behaviors.

"For example, typical signals include stopping taking good care of oneself, a lack of concentration, holding a persistently negative attitude toward themselves and their surroundings, insomnia, relying on alcohol and smoking more often than usual, and withdrawal from the company of family, friends, and colleagues," she said.

Burnout, you know it

Li Li, deputy head of the Psychological Health Promotion Department at SMHC, said work burnout usually begins when a person sees no meaning in their job anymore, it seems overly demanding, or they feel they are not being properly rewarded.

"When a person enters a condition of burnout, it's like a phone needs to be charged as soon as possible. When someone is in a state of 'power emergency' for a long time, it may pose various physical and mental health risks," she said.

However, unlike physical health problems, mental health ones usually take longer to recover from, and have a heavier impact on the people involved and their families, said Si, the executive director of SPHPC.

"If someone has a broken leg, they can still type with their hands and they can still think and express themselves. But if they are confronted with a serious mental challenge, such as depression, it may not allow them to work," he said.

Citing British studies, Zeng said that more than half of employees around the world do not tell their bosses they feel overstressed, and one in four of those who quit say it is because they can't cope with the pressure at work.

Globally, anxiety and depression affect 300 million and 280 million people respectively, according to World Health Organization data. Nearly $1 trillion is lost every year due to the reduced productivity of workers afflicted by depression and anxiety, research conducted by WHO experts showed.

"A certain level of pressure functions as a propeller to move forward life and work," said Zeng.

"People usually take the initiative to cope with such pressure, and will be at the peak of efficiency and perform well. But if stress continues to rise, some may start to behave in a sluggish way, make more mistakes, and feel fatigue, exhaustion and even collapse."

Zeng added that instead of dodging stress, it's important to make it manageable.

The art of listening

When dealing with stressed people, listeners need to be patient and express sympathy through their body language and speech. They also need to prepare for discussions with the stressed person by finding a private space with chairs and items such as water and tissues, said the lecturers.

Gao, who works at Ctrip, said he learned from the course that crying is not something bad, and is a way to vent emotions. Some clients are quite blunt and even rude when expressing their dissatisfaction in a complaint phone call, he said. This makes some of his staff feel uncomfortable and even depressed, and some even burst out crying.

Gao said he used to attribute such reactions to their immaturity, and thought customers should be prioritized in a work situation. He would instruct his subordinates to control their emotions and ignore their feelings.

"However, now I'm aware I can do better," Gao said.

"Next time, if a colleague is in this situation, I'll let him or her release their emotions first and then listen to his or her experiences and feelings in a private space.

"Perhaps I'll replay the recording of the phone call with the colleague, and put ourselves in the customer's place and try to sympathize with their emotions. This way, we can understand they're not targeting us and we'll feel less hurt."

Psychologists said that in a society undergoing rapid development and evolving knowledge and technologies, many people easily enter a stressful state.

"They may feel like an automobile racing ahead at super fast speed, being coerced to operate at an accelerated pace," said Li. For example, she said, as technologies such as artificial intelligence continue to progress, some people may be afraid their jobs will become redundant.

Under pressure

Workers can also place pressure on themselves, especially the younger ones. Compared with previous generations, they tend to have a higher pursuit of values at work and seek more self-realization, said Li.

Bu Tingmei, a participant in the course and a human resources worker at China National Offshore Oil Corporation, a large offshore oil and gas producer, said she recently noticed a young colleague's dedication to her work appeared to be on the decline.

Bu later learned the colleague had relocated from her hometown to Shanghai to follow her boyfriend, but they had soon broken up. Other factors, including constantly working overtime and the colleague's parents being ill, had also contributed to the co-worker's depression.

Bu said she learned from the course that it is important for colleagues in such a situation to provide company for a depressed co-worker, show support, and share their workload. They can also encourage them to receive proper mental health treatment if the situation has affected their normal life and work, has lasted for two weeks, and shows no improvement after trying self-adjustment.

Sun Yan, a doctor from the Disease Prevention and Control Department at Shanghai Changning District Mental Health Center, said that when mental health is talked about in the workplace, it cannot be isolated from other aspects of a person's life.

"Mental health in the workplace can be related to challenges from superior-subordinate relationships, career development, and interpersonal conflicts in the workplace," he said.

"But it can also derive from family and marriage and parent-child relationships among many other things. All these elements can affect work."

Li said new arrivals in a big city may feel pressure and anxiety because some colleagues appear to have a higher quality of life such as making exciting arrangements for the weekend. Such anxiety does not derive from the work itself, but from the workplace environment, she said.

Meanwhile, superiors who show respect can boost an employee's sense of growth at work and help reduce their anxiety.

"Rewards at work are free in many cases. For example, they can be compliments from managers, colleagues or clients. Such inspiration is an important component of a career experience and can motivate us to press ahead, even if we feel tired and are going through a difficult time at work," said Sun, from the Changning District Mental Health Center.

Removing stigma

Awareness about mental health has been on the rise in recent years, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic when it was discussed a lot, experts said. Doctors noticed that a rising number of patients are taking the initiative to seek mental health help, compared with the past when it was considered a stigma.

"As the public's mental health literacy continues to improve, and mental health is increasingly mentioned in the media, people will gradually come to understand that individuals with mental health challenges are not a minority, and they will abandon their prejudice," said Li.

"We hope that one day, mental health will be treated and managed in the same way as chronic physical diseases such as hypertension and diabetes," she said.

The decline in the stigma attached to mental health challenges is particularly noticeable in young people, especially those born after 1990.

"Factors, including better education in general, a more tolerant culture, and a stronger desire for inner growth, mean young people have a higher requirement for their mental health," said Li.

"Many teenagers seek medical assistance before their parents have the idea of sending them to therapists. Also, they usually present a better psychological perspective when talking about their situations than past generations as they will mention their families and how they were brought up," she said.