TWe end up thinking that work is the cause of all our ills and ailments. But that’s not always the case. From a survey conducted by the mental well-being platform serenis out of a sample of over 3,000 people, it appears that 80% of those who start a course of psychotherapy reporting work-related difficulties do not receive a confirmatory diagnosis. In other words, one goes to therapy “accusing” the office when instead the causes of the psychological distress are elsewhere.
Work as a “trigger” for other psychological difficulties
The workplace is where we spend most of our time, about 60,000 hours of our lives spent working on average, and it often puts us under the greatest pressure. «So it is natural that he acts as a triggers for other psychological difficulties“, Meaning what that it is one stimulus that recalls a previous traumatic experience, generating new suffering.
«In therapy, in general, the difficulties that this generates in daily behavior are investigated. Not by chance, the ability to carry on an autonomous working life is also one of the psychiatric parameters for mental health», explains Martina Migliore, cognitive-behavioral psychotherapist of Serenis.
More, the world of work is changing at sustained speed and many do not feel up to it: this exacerbates the problem. «Generating a confusion in objectives and perspectives».
When the problem might not be work
The study also shows that, of the people who turn to Serenis psychotherapists declaring that they have work-related difficulties, most of them have other problems. 37% have a anxiety disorder22% a malaise derived from a lack of personal growth, 19% from a lack of self-esteem, 17% have relationship problems.
8% take a path linked to stress7% have existential crises, 6% work on assertiveness, 5% have issues of couple4% have a depressive disorder, 3% start a path related to conflict management. The remaining part suffers from discomforts related to mourning, trauma, mood disorders, panic attacks, eating behavior, sleep and more. In short, the work has nothing to do with it.
Why do we identify the cause of our malaise in work?
So here are the 5 disorders that generate the most confusion, according to Martina Migliore, Training and Development Director of Serenis.
1. Obsessive-compulsive disorders
They bring people to overestimate their own responsibility and to fear the consequences that would arise from a possible failure, perceived as catastrophic. The job requires organizational and decision-making skills. This is why, under work pressure, the symptoms of the disorders in question are amplified.
2. Pathological perfectionism
It pushes professionals to set very high, almost inhuman standards, ea tie all personal value to successes in terms of performance. Everyone faces more or less productive days, and this becomes a problem for pathological perfectionists. If personal value depends on each individual result, negative feedback is enough to collapse.
3. Depression
It causes general demotivation and chronic fatigue in people, among other things. Work rhythms, for the depressed, can easily become unsustainable, even if basic. And this only increases their perception of not being enough and self-distrust.
4. Social phobia
It makes you fear the confrontation with the other, perceived as dangerous and always ready to give a negative opinion. At work we are called to dialogue with colleagues and superiors. A constraint that can create unbearable discomfort for those who perceive the slightest change in their bodily reactions and in the signals of the other, which they interpret as highly judgmental.
5. Attention Deficit Disorder
Often underestimated in adults, ADHD causes a range of symptoms that are very difficult to manage and recognize. Especially in the absence of a childhood diagnosis and psychotherapy. The work involves organization and meeting deadlines and the opinion of others. Keeping everything in mind and curbing the impulsiveness that drives you to act out of control can get complicated.
“It’s kind of like work was a cauldron in which everything boils» adds Migliore. Ineffective anxiety management can end up inside. Obsessive problems that increase the workload excessively. Poor ability to concentrate undiagnosed in childhood. Relationship and family problems.
The psychological discomfort that arises in the workplace
Yet, it results from the analysis, 20% of the patient population of psychotherapy courses has actually a work-related problem. Of these, women represent the largest group, with a percentage of 67%. The age group between 25 and 35, which involves 46% of the sample, is the most affected. The over 45s, on the other hand, are much less involved: only 9% of the survey participants show disturbances in this area.
“The problem exists,” explains Migliore. “Surely work and hyper-productivity constitute a significant source of pressure. On the contrary, sometimes praising the slowdown of activities, the value of boredom and disconnecting makes those who are used to always seeing themselves on the run feel even more inadequate. There is a train effect at full speed that ends up derailing at the first corner or at the first pebble on the rails».
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