82 Mental Health, Stress & Anxiety Statistics To Worry About!
If we weren’t suffering before COVID we are now!
What am I talking about it?
I’m talking about our current levels of stress, anxiety, and our overall mental health.
Mental health issues are primarily categorised by a combination of emotions, perceptions, abnormal thoughts, behavioural and relationships issues. Mental health disorders can include depression, dementia, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, psychoses, and developmental disorders (autism).
Mental health and anxiety were two topics that weren’t covered on Leadership Training in the past. But they are now. Here are some interesting statistics to show you why.
Mental Health Statistics
80% of executives consider employee well-being as a very important topic in COVID-19 scenario. (Deloitte 2021)
42% of the global workforce have reported a decline in mental health due to COVID-19 (McKinsey & Company 2021)
83% of US employees feeling emotionally drained or experiencing burnout (40% strongly feeling that). (Mental Health America 2021)
99% of US employees feel workplace stress affects their mental health (71% strongly feeling that). (Mental Health America 2021)
23% of US employees facing more severe burnout signs (reduced professional efficacy), perpetrate cynicism towards co-workers or clients and neglect jobs responsibilities. (Mental Health America 2021)
87% of US employees believe supervisor didn’t support employees facing mental illnesses to feel safer in workplace. (Mental Health America 2021)
85% of US employees believe supervisor didn’t support with resources, emotional support and education about mental health. (Mental Health America 2021)
19% (47 million) of US adults are experiencing a mental illness and 4.55% are experiencing a severe mental illness. (Mental Health America 2021)
57% (26 million) of US adults experiencing a mental illness did not receive any mental illness treatment (Mental Health America 2021)
11.5% of US adults had a cognitive disability in 2018 and 28.69% of them were not able to get the required treatment due to the costs involved. (Mental Health America 2021)
23.6% of US adults having a mental illness were not able to receive the required treatment due to the access issue (Mental Health America 2021)
10.8% (5.1 million) of US adults having mental illness are uninsured (10.3% in 2020). (Mental Health America 2021)
27.3% of US youth (age 12-17) having severe depression receive reliable mental health treatment with 7-25+ annual visits and 59.6% of US youth having a major depression did not receive any treatment. (Mental Health America 2021)
0.757% of US students are having an Emotional Disturbance (ED) for an Individualized Online Education Program (IEP). (Mental Health America 2021)
7.67% of US adults and 3.83% of US youth (age 12-17) had a substance use disorder in 2020. (Mental Health America 2021)
2.87% of US adults and 2.85% of US youth (age 12-17) had an illicit drug use disorder in 2020. (Mental Health America 2021)
5.74% of US adults and 1.69% of US youth (age 12-17) had an alcohol use disorder in 2020. (Mental Health America 2021)
4.34% (10.7 million) of US adults has serious suicidal thoughts in 2021 compared to 10.24 million US adults in 2020. (Mental Health America 2021)
13.84% of US youth (age 12-17) suffering from at least one major depressive episode (MDE) in 2020 as mostly untreated childhood depression continued into adulthood. (Mental Health America 2021)
9.7% (2.3 million) of US youth (age 12-17) has severe major depression due to substance use, anxiety and disorderly behaviour. (Mental Health America 2021)
Global mental health causes (anxiety and stress) during COVID-19 – job security (56%), irregular work routines (55%), managing work life balance (50%), feeling lonely or isolated (49%), difficulty completing work due to inadequate equipment (46%), and family pressures (45%). (IPSOS 2021)
The global economy loses over US$ 1 trillion every year due to mental health issues like anxiety and depression. (United For Global Mental Health 2020)
Working women are 2.5X more likely than working men to face mental wellness challenge. US employers annually lose US$ 225.5 billion due to lost productivity because of mental wellness. (Hicleo 2020)
Employers supporting their employees with personal life experiences believe 23% and 17% increase in number of employees having better mental health and better physical health respectively. Employers also get 21% increase in number of high performers. (Gartner 2020)
45% increase in employee well-being budget during COVID-19 crisis is allocated to mental and emotional well-being programs and 68% of companies added at least one new wellness benefit program (Gartner 2020)
80% of companies believe they support employees with physical and emotional health, but 46% employees agree to that (IBM 2020)
Globally, 60% of all countries reported disruptions in mental health services- counselling and psychotherapy (67%), critical harm reduction services (65%) and emergency interventions (35%) (WHO, 2020)
82% of employees believe robots can effectively provide mental health support better than humans and 68% would consider robot to tell stress and anxiety issues than manager. (Oracle & Workplace Intelligence 2020)
78% of working people believe COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted their overall mental health and 51% believe company changed non-wage benefits to include mental health support during COVID-19 pandemic but 76% still expect company to provide more mental health support. (Oracle & Workplace Intelligence 2020)
Employee believe mental health affected- sleep deprivation (40%), poor physical health (35%), reduced happiness at home (33%), suffering family relationships (30%), and isolation from friends (28%). (Oracle & Workplace Intelligence 2020)
88% of working people believe AI solutions are beneficial to mental health – increases productivity (63%), quick information (63%), automate tasks (59%), improves job satisfaction (54%), improves well-being (52%), shorten work week (51%), longer vacations (51%), new skills to learn (50%), judgement free support (34%), job more effectively (31%), unbiased (30%), health questions (29%), prevent burnout (27%), and prioritize tasks (27%) (Oracle & Workplace Intelligence 2020)
Mental Health America’s website webpage “self-screening questionnaires” has seen 60-70% in April 2020 (National Council for Behavioral Health 2020)
Talkspace, online mental health therapy company in US has seen 65% increase in customers between Feb. 15, 2020 and April 30, 2020. (Mental Health America, 2020)
39% of Canadians in Oct. 2020 believe spending quality time outside during COVID-19 creates more positive impact on their mental health compared any other activity. (Mental Health Research Canada 2020)
69% of Canadians in May 2021 believe to have a high degree of resiliency signifying a robust mental health recovery and high level of optimism post COVID-19 pandemic. (Mental Health Research Canada 2020)
On April 28, 2020, 57% of unemployed Canadians believe COVID-19 job loss negatively impacted their mental health. (Mental Health Research Canada 2020)
In 2019/20, 828,000 UK workers were suffering from work-related stress, depression or anxiety (new or long-standing) (Office for National Statistics 2020)
In 2019/20, 17.9 million of working days are totally lost in UK due to work-related stress, depression or anxiety (new or long-standing) (Office for National Statistics 2020)
By June, 2020, US adults (older than 18 years) face mental health (40%), anxiety/depression symptoms (31%), trauma/stressor-related disorder symptoms (26%), started or increased substance use (13%), and seriously considered suicide (11%). (CDC 2020)
19.70% of unemployed people in UK had suicidal thoughts and feelings in April 2020 as compared to 8.64% of currently employed people. (Mental Health Foundation 2020)
83.3% of UK employees are not willing to tell their employer about the mental health issues they face and 89.9% believe UK government doesn’t do enough to support mental health. (Adzooma 2020)
44% of all sick days at work in UK is attributable to the mental health issues. (Adzooma 2020)
The mental health account for average of 21.6 days lost per case and 17.9 million days collectively in 2019/20. The stress, depression or anxiety accounts for 51% of all ill health cases and 55% of total workdays lost. (Health and Safety Executive 2020)
70% of employees will take treatments to enhance the functioning of their brain and body if it was going to improve their employment prospects in the future. (PwC 2018)
Working-age US adults with mental health disabilities are more likely to live below the federal poverty level, use public healthcare insurance and has average health costs of 3-7X higher compared to those without disabilities. (Mental Health America 2017)
Mental illness of an individual is responsible for low wellbeing rather than poverty or inequality. By effectively treating the physical and mental disorders leading to anxiety disorders and depression would reduce the global populations misery by about 20%, compared to increasing global populations average income by at least the 20% would reduce misery by 5% (London School of Economics 2016)
The most critical factor impacting individual happiness and misery are social relationships, mental and physical health. It signifies that focus needs on “wellbeing creation” and not on “wealth creation” (London School of Economics 2016)
Mental Health Wellness Apps: Headspace, Breathe2Relax, Calm, Happify, HealthyMinds, Insight Timer, MindShift CBT, Stop Beathe & Think, PTSD Coach Canada, Virtual Hope Box, Sanvello, MoodPath, MoodMission, BounceBack, Big White Wall. Or you might consider Mental Training.
Workplace Stress Statistics
The American Institute for Stress states stress as “A most natural physical and mental reaction to life experiences”.
Workplace stress is mostly caused by the mismatch between the employee’s capabilities, company resources and managers expectations.
The COVID-19 lockdown restrictions created an extensive effect on employee’s emotions (isolation, loneliness, relationships, ailment, losses, death) to trigger high amounts of sudden stress.
Here are some useful statistics about stress in the workplace…
Most common causes of UK employees work stress during COVID-19 pandemic- workloads/volume of work (59%), management style (32%), in-office or homeworking demands or challenges (31%), relationships/family factors (25%), anxiety (fear of infection in workplace/ during commute) (23%), personal illness/health issue (22%), poor work–life balance (20%), relationships at work (20%). (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development 2021)
85% of US employees believe workplace stress affects their mental health. (Mental Health America 2021)
22% of nurses providing direct patient care may leave their jobs in 2022 due to excessive physical and mental strain from COVID-19 pandemic faced by them. (McKinsey & Company 2021)
59% of US employees believe supervisor didn’t provide emotional support to cope with workplace stress. (Mental Health America 2021)
78% of all antidepressant, anti-anxiety, and anti-insomnia prescriptions given in the US between mid-February 2020 and mid-March 2020 were new prescriptions (Evernorth Health 2020)
26% women and 16% men has sleeping trouble due to stress at least once a week. (American Institute for Stress 2020)
19% of employees ages 25-64 has sleeping trouble due to stress a few nights per week. (American Institute for Stress 2020)
54% employees believe stress or anxiety increases anxiety about falling asleep at night. (American Institute for Stress 2020)
52% men and 42% believe stress affect ability to remain focused the next day. (American Institute for Stress 2020)
20.55% of UK employees and 34.01% of full-time employees in work – were stressed about losing their job in April 2020. (Mental Health Foundation 2020)
25.85% of unemployed people in UK are not coping well with the COVID-19 pandemic stress in April 2020 compared to 12.25% of currently employed people. (Mental Health Foundation 2020)
10.93% of unemployed people in UK believe nothing has helped them to successfully cope with the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020. (Mental Health Foundation 2020)
32.66% of adults in UK were stressed by their financial issues like regular bill payments and debt in April 2020. Segregated as 35.11% people in lower socioeconomic groups and 30.81% people in higher groups. (Mental Health Foundation 2020)
44.7% of unemployed people in UK were stressed about accessing enough food to meet their basic needs in April 2020 as compared to 29.32% of currently employed people. (Mental Health Foundation 2020)
48% of global respondent believe uncertainty about the future is their biggest cause of stress. (Cigna 2020)
55% of UK employees believed to receive the adequate information about returning to and 44% were adequately consulted. 62% of UK employees not adequately consulted feel anxious about returning, compared to 42% who were adequately consulted. (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development 2020)
21% of UK employees currently working in workplace are not satisfied with the health and safety measures and 32% feel anxious about getting infected with COVID-19 at work. (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development 2020)
US federal helpline for people in emotional distress has seen 1 000% increase in calls in April 2020 compared to April 2019. (Mental Health America, 2020)
Job stress costs US businesses US$ 300 billion annually through diminished productivity, increase in absenteeism, and high employee turnover. (American Psychological Association 2018)
76% of US employees believe workplace stress affect personal relationships at work. (Korn Ferry 2018)
66% of US employees believe workplace stress cause sleep deprivation (Korn Ferry 2018)
16% of US employees quit jobs due to workplace stress. (Korn Ferry 2018)
20% increment in workplace stress in the last 3 decades. (Korn Ferry 2018)
64% of the US employees are more anxious at work than five years ago. (Korn Ferry 2018)
35% of US employees believe boss increases stress in the workplace. (Korn Ferry 2018)
71% of employers believe employees need support in managing stress. (Lifeworks 2017)
Workplace Anxiety Statistics
Anxiety symptoms can include any of the following: restlessness, fear, uncertainty, fatigue, aches and pains, irritability, difficulty concentrating, excess worrying, low motivation, sleep problems, self-medication and a general impairment in quality of health.
Social anxiety symptoms are anxiety, feelings of inferiority, worry, indecision, embarrassment, depression and self-blame in most of the daily-life situations.
Take a look at these interesting statistics about anxiety in the workplace…
47% of employees believe lack of post COVID-19 vision by their company is causing them concern or anxiety. (McKinsey & Company 2021)
Canadians feel highest levels of self-reported and diagnosed anxiety (30%) and depression (25%) in June 2021 (anxiety (25%) and depression (17%) in Feb 2021, anxiety (23%) and depression (15%) in December 2020). In Feb 2021, anxiety and depression level was 4X and 2X greater than they were experiencing prior to COVID-19. (Mental Health Research Canada 2021)
In June 2021, young Canadians (ages 18 to 34), working people not following COVID-19 protocols, and healthcare workers reported high levels of anxiety and depression. (Mental Health Research Canada 2021)
8% of Canadian employees believe anxiety and depression is responsible for losing work days and 30% feel significant reduction in productivity during COVID-19. (Mental Health Research Canada 2021)
In March/April 2020, COVID-19 impacted UK individuals with 66% increase in daily anxiety, 15% reduction in life satisfaction, 15% reduction in daily happiness, and 14% reduction in sense of purpose in life as compared to March/April 2019 (Simetrica-Jacobs & London School of Economics and Political Science.2020)
50% of UK population feel high levels of anxiety during lockdown period of 20 March to 30 March, 2020. (Office for National Statistics 2020)
Global adults experienced mental distress (%) – United States (33%), Canada (26%), United Kingdom (26%), France (24%), Australia (23%), New Zealand (23%), Sweden (18%), Netherlands (14%), and Norway (10%). (Commonwealth Fund, 2020)
34% of older people in UK believe their anxiety level is worse or much worse now compared to pre COVID-19 pandemic. (Age UK 2020)
33% of women patients having severe burns develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) because of the structure of genes (Johns Hopkins university 2019)
We all need to keep on top of our mental health, anxiety and stress because it won’t go away by itself. You can audit your own workplace wellness by taking our FREE Wellbeing At Work Survey.
Modern day Management Training Courses should cover an element on how to manage others wellbeing as well as your own. A healthy team will get far more done and will be a lot happier.
