Contents of the White Paper on Mental Health in the Workplace

Combining survey data covering 17 industries across the country and 23,000 valid samples from 2022 to 2023, the current detection rate of mental health problems in domestic workplaces reaches 43.7%. The core contradiction is the structural mismatch between individual flexible adaptability and increased organizational uncertainty, as well as the simplification of social and professional evaluations. There is no "one trick" solution. Individuals, organizations, and society need to implement layered policies based on the differentiated needs of groups in different industries and different career stages.

To be honest, I wasn't surprised when I first saw this data - last week I had tea with an EAP (Employee Assistance Program) consultant stationed at an Internet company. She turned over the consulting desk in her hand and said that product managers in their 30s accounted for nearly one-third of the cases she received last year, half of which were due to frequent suspension of projects. The other half of the resulting self-denial is the "middle-aged suspension anxiety" of not being able to succeed as a fresh graduate or promoted to a management position. The most exaggerated example is a girl who only slept 4 hours a day for 3 months in a row. She fainted at her workstation and was sent to the hospital. She was found to be moderately depressed. The company HR even asked her privately, "Will this person affect the team atmosphere and should she be dismissed?"

The debate on this issue in academic circles has actually been going on for almost five years. The school that favors individual attribution always says that today's workplace workers have "glass hearts" and "in the past, the older generation did not say they had psychological problems no matter how much they worked overtime, so how come you are now depressed?" However, researchers from the structural school have always disagreed with this statement - the 2023 Labor Market Report of the Academy of Social Sciences clearly states that in the past three years, The average duration of jobs in domestic enterprises has dropped from 3.2 years to 1.7 years. The duration of jobs in industries such as the Internet and education and training is even less than one year. In addition, the scale of the informal employment group has exceeded 200 million. Most people are in the uncertainty of "may lose their jobs at any time." The psychological consumption caused by this long-term insecurity cannot be overcome by a "good mentality".

In the past two years, I have conducted employee care surveys for several manufacturing factories in the Pearl River Delta. It is completely different from the problems in the Internet industry mentioned above. Most of the psychological distress of assembly line workers comes from the emptiness of value brought by repetitive work for 12 hours a day, as well as the overdraft of energy due to only one day of rest per month. Many people said that "after working for three years, they still don't know where the parts they made are finally installed," let alone any sense of professional achievement. The problems of new professional groups such as delivery workers and delivery anchors are more direct: there is no stable social security and no clear labor boundaries. The platform’s algorithm KPI increases by 15% every year. If you run slowly, you will be deducted and your account will be banned if you are complained. Last year I came into contact with a A small MCN food anchor was terminated after failing to live up to the standard for three consecutive months. During that time, she had to take 3 melatonin tablets a day to fall asleep. She went to the hospital to be diagnosed with moderate anxiety. Instead, the company said she had "poor emotional regulation skills and is not suitable for this industry."

Don’t believe those poisonous chicken soups on the Internet that say “three steps to fix emotional internal conflict in the workplace”. If it really worked, there wouldn’t be so many people having problems. I have seen so many people who can maintain their status in a high-pressure environment, but none of them rely on "forbearance". Instead, they all actively draw boundaries: they turn off their work computers at the end of the day, return non-urgent work messages the next day, and forget about the leader's PUA. Some people even put a note on their workstation saying "Don't talk about work during off hours." To put it bluntly, you treat the company as your family, and the company will not be lenient when it lays you off.

Of course, we cannot blame all problems on individuals. Many EAPs offered by many companies nowadays are indeed for show: they only provide a 400 consultation hotline and make an appointment through the company's intranet. Who dares to call employees? If HR finds out, they may be labeled as "emotionally unstable" and not be eligible for promotion. But there are some that do really well. I know there is a game company in Hangzhou that places the EAP consultant's desk directly next to the tea room. No reservation is required. You can chat when passing by to buy coffee. It also clearly stipulates that no one is allowed to work overtime every Thursday afternoon. Last year, their voluntary turnover rate dropped by 12%. Do you think it is useful? It is definitely useful, but it depends on whether the company is willing to really treat its employees as human beings instead of consumables.

In the final analysis, the biggest problem now is the stigmatization of psychological problems in the workplace. When many people hear "anxiety" and "depression", they think "there is something wrong with this person". They dare not go to the doctor or tell their colleagues, and they persist until big problems occur in the end. In addition, the career evaluation in society is too simple. It seems that only being in the management and making a lot of money can be called success. If you are still working in a grassroots position at the age of 30, you are "incompetent". This kind of evaluation system makes everyone afraid to stop, for fear of being eliminated if they fall behind.

Oh, by the way, let me give you a final reminder. If you haven't been able to sleep well for half a month in a row, are no longer interested in the things you used to like, and always feel out of breath when you go to work, don't force yourself to do it. Go to the hospital to see a psychology department first. There is no shame in it. If you lose your job, you can find another one. It's a real loss if your body collapses. After all, at the end of the day, the workplace is just a part of life, not everything, right?