Pandemic caused the emergence of new cases of anxiety, depression and stress in the corporate environment
Mental health has always been a taboo inside and outside the home, especially in the corporate environment, and the pandemic has opened up the problem. For Aleks Mesquita, CEO of Amar.elo Sade Mental, there has been a significant increase in problems in the area due to the pandemic itself.
According to him, the world population experienced something new, which took away their right to come and go, in addition to losses and mourning. So, yes, there is a need for attention to mental health, due to the natural stress that has been caused in recent years. There was an emotional aggravation of people, with some cases having developed into what is called PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).
Mesquita also states that Brazil was already the most anxious country in the world and the fifth in cases of depression. So, it was not something new in our midst, but, in fact, it was something that started to be discussed more frequently after that period.
He also says that in the corporate environment there was a series of changes, with the home environment becoming the same as that of work, and all the tensions that came from that. This new reality was also among the factors of continuous stress, he says, adding: Faced with all this, people began to re-signify their purposes, to analyze what in fact belongs to them and what makes sense to them, with a strong sense of life . This all made professionals rethink about the professional market and demanded companies to reflect on this as well.
According to him, to avoid the reduction of staff due to the disease, companies must be careful and carry out a self-assessment and analysis that they have and deliver a healthy environment to the team. It is already necessary to promote a suitable space to work. We have illness and disease factors that are the sole responsibility of companies. Burnout, for example, is a clear corporate responsibility disorder. They are the ones who have the obligation to curb the employee’s impulse to work beyond what is necessary. It is important to have rules and a culture in the company that test excessive factors and allow talking about mental health, especially understanding that there are human beings there, he says.
To illustrate the question about how much this problem has grown among Brazilians, he talks about data from a company called CloseCare, which analyzes medical certificates and noticed that mental disorders, which keep people away from the work environment, increased by 30% between 2020 and 2022 Only this recent data already gives us a basis for the great growth on the subject. To make the situation worse, in the certificate it is not mandatory to classify the disease, that is, the number of illnesses is even higher, he assesses.
According to him, the same research has already predicted about R$ 5 billion in expenses, this year alone, with mental disorders in Brazil. And, according to the World Health Organization, by 2030, US$ 2 trillion will be spent on mental health. This is a giant problem, which grows every day, alerting everyone to the need to put into practice dynamics and solutions that care for and preserve mental health.
It reveals the most common problems: anxiety, depression and stress. Burnout syndrome is another warning factor. It was already widely studied in the United States, but it only started to be spoken in Brazil recently. However, studies show that at least 30% of the active economic population in Brazil has Burnout, he says.
Mesquita also states that, unfortunately, it is very difficult to prevent the disease, since the country has few professionals trained in this prevention and many companies are still not open to discuss the matter. Brazil needs to have a correct public health policy, focused on prevention and providing the possibility of integrated assistance.
He says that companies are not aware of the problem. For him, there is a very small portion of companies that are alert. Of the more than 826,000 CNPJs with more than 50 employees registered in Brazil, well less than 10% have a policy aimed at promoting and preventing mental health.
Mesquita suggests that technology can help prevent and combat the problem. For him, what helps the most is enabling care and education of care wherever these people are. Taking therapy online, remotely, as Amar.elo does, helps and guarantees a more immediate and direct help with each individual.
The executive recalls that smartphones are great allies in promoting emotional health. Education, prevention and treatment of mental health are within reach. Some annual movements are taking place to help mainly depressed people, who can reach suicide. He reveals that the results have been important.
At least once a year we can talk openly about a subject as sensitive as suicide. The only problem will occur only in this isolated month, considering that in Brazil more people die from suicide than from motorcycle accidents, he concludes.
(Credit: Joshua Fuller on Unsplash)
