Sustainable work is in everyone's interest – here’s how to reduce harmful stress

 Stress among employees is increasing, the same with burn-out, particularly among those in supervisory and leadership roles. What is stressing us, and how is harmful stress linked to burnout and mental health symptoms? In this blog, I dive into this challenging topic and seek answers - how we can build a more sustainable work life, together?

What do you think about these topics? Have you noticed that there a bit too much going on in your own daily life?

About the well-being of employees; what does the data tell us?

The well-being of employees in Finland has declined significantly. According to the latest "How Is Finland Doing?" study by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, one in ten employees is likely to be suffering from burnout, and at least one in four faces an increased risk of burnout. Burnout has particularly increased among those in supervisory and leadership roles. According to the study, the number of exhausted supervisors and managers still in work is three times higher than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the same time, statistics from Kela paint a sad picture of the mental health challenges facing the world’s happiest nation, Finland. In 2023, one in ten Finns was using medication for mental health challenges. Over 100,700 people were on sick leave due to mental health issues. Among mental health disorders, especially anxiety disorders have increased. 

What is stressing out the employees?

We live in a 24/7 open, noisy world, where our brains are easily pushed into a state of overload. The information flood to our brains is constant. What ever happens around the world, it is reported in real-time. Yellow pages journalism creates scary stories in a row. Social media shows us what life is supposed to look like in ideal, perfect world. Our brains are not able to instantly block unnecessary messages out; instead, the brain first needs to process the incoming information to know whether it is useful or not. When our brain notifies something that may put our safety in risk, threat focused thinking and stress reaction starts to take place. Our brains are designed to keep us alive, not happy (unfortunately!), and from a survival perspective, the experiences of safety and social acceptance are crucial. When we feel these are at risk, a stress response is triggered—even without a concrete threat; just the thought and feeling are enough.

At the same time, work has become much more mentally demanding than the routine tasks used to be in the past. Today's jobs require problem-solving skills, creativity, solid focus, good memory, and continuous learning, as well as the ability to tolerate uncertainty and unfinished business. Workdays can be fragmented, full of interruptions, with constant switching between tasks. For many, also the leisure time has become task and success oriented. We are running after accomplishment all the time. 

When considering the above mentioned, the findings from the latest research are not at all that surprising. Our Brains Are in Constant Alert Mode. The harder and more prolonged the stress is, in relation to one’s resources and capabilities to recover, the more easily our brains get into constant alert mode.

When I think about the typical situation at an occupational health doctor's appointment, the sequence of events often goes like this: harmful stress (usually involving several areas of life) -> sleep disturbances and/or decreased ability to do restorative activities and recover -> transition into survival mode, where stress and anxiety symptoms increase -> burnout symptoms intensify, either over time or due to some external setback or life challenge -> burnout deepens, areas of life shrink, and eventually, mental disorder develops.

What could we do differently to avoid falling into this negative spiral?

There is No Simple Solution to a Complex Problem

The blame is often directed towards work, leadership, the economy, global turmoil, social media, etc. However, due to the complexity of the unhealthy stress, its resolution takes more than rely on a single factor.

These days there are quite a lot negative talk about work, as with many other topics. Negative stories sell better than positive ones. 🙁

However, work has a definite positive effect on mental health and recovery. When faced with illness or life related challenges, it’s important to adjust work in a way that balance between the stressors and employee's resources remain.

The brain’s response to harmful stress is many times just a normal reaction, a reaction that is "coded" into our brain. Over-medicalization should be avoided. I often find myself telling to my patient, “After hearing what you told to me and what's been going on in your life, I’d be more concerned if you didn’t feel anything at all.” Unfortunately, our healthcare system is still designed in such a way that without a diagnosis, an individual might be excluded from adequate care and support from social security system. 

"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong."
— H.L. Mencken

Help from neuroscience to resolve the mental health pandemic 

I am fully convinced that the solution to well-being and mental health challenges lies in our brain. We are doing better, when we understand how our brains work and how we can create environment, at work and at home, that support the well-being and endurance of our brains.

Our brains operate with very old operating systems and are still stuck in "caveman times" on the savannah, while the world around us has radically changed. Old methods of leadership/management and old ways of working are not supporting our well-being in today's world, and it’s crucial to reconsider how to take care of your well-being, both at work and in leisure time.

A thriving work community benefits everyone

For an individual, falling ill is tough, and when it is about mental health challenges, at appointment we often discuss also about the worry caused by the symptoms or illness. It’s quite common for a patient to express real concern—sometimes even fear—about whether his/her life will always involve battle against these symptoms, and whether he/she ever will be able to live the life s/he used to live. And how about the work capacity? Can I continue or return to my job and secure my own and my family's financial security?

Fortunately, my answer is that burnout, depression, and especially anxiety are all states that are, in fact, many times a normal reaction of the brain to excessive stress, from which recovery do happen—with good treatment, by reducing harmful stress, and by focusing on recovery, without pushing to get results. Worry and anxiety, let alone fear, only add to the burden, and it has been rewarding to notice how already offering hope for a better future helps to reduce mental strain.

For employers, the cost of one sick day is about 370 euros, and the cost rises significantly with longer absences. The highest price is paid if an employee has to retire due to illness. Even before that, in many places it’s also difficult to find substitutes, leading to delays or stoppages in work when staff is missing. This too carries a cost and may put the remaining employees under harmfully big workload. 

The price of burnout and mental health issues is high- for the individual who has fallen ill, the workplace, and Finland as a nation.

When we succeed in supporting endurance and mental health among employees, everyone wins.

In a thriving work community, absenteeism is lower, work flows better, and the sense of control over work is stronger. Employees achieve more but get less tired. Leaders and supervisors have more energy, which results in better leadership. Employee turnover decreases, and the workplace attracts new talent. As a result, the cash flow improves.

At the societal level, the total value of lost working days due to mental health issues is estimated to be around five billion euros annually, about 20% of the budget for health care in 2025 in Finland. 

A multidimensional challenge requires addressing the root causes and for that, we must take into account perhaps the most complex system in the universe: our brains and learn how not to stress our brains out.
I’m here to help your organization to succeed on this journey and to build work practices and environment that support the well-being and mental health of your employees and leaders. 

Let’s work together to help your organization

If you'd like to hear more or share your thoughts on how I can help your organization, please reach out to me. Together we can find ways to reduce harmful stress and create a work environment where people can thrive—both at work and in their free time.

You can find our contact information here. Let's get in touch!

With well-being and brain regards
Anna-Mari