Mental disorders can cause huge damage to the economy (Image: Getty Images)
with progress vaccination and resume Face to face activitiesCompanies have again opened job vacancies and sought talent for their employees. But on the other hand, the global mental health crisis, caused by the Covid-19 virus, has pushed hundreds of thousands of people out of their jobs, preventing economic recovery.
Official UK figures showed that 411,000 working-age Britons left the workforce between February 2020 and November 2021. More than half (209,000) left their jobs due to ‘long-term’ mental health issues – now the biggest cause of inactivity. in the workforce.
A study conducted by the University of Bath in England, and published by the medical journal The Lancet on Friday (21), showed that the costs of mental disorders to the economy should accrue to an annual bill of US$6 trillion (BRL 32,7 trillion) annually by 2030.
“The social cost of mental health problems is enormous,” says Maria Koppel, a psychologist and director of a master’s degree at the British University, to luck. In addition to the expense of treating the mind, the disturbances “cause under-allocation of the workforce, because you have people who can’t function properly.”
This is not a unique phenomenon in the UK. In the US, a so-called “big resignation” caused two-thirds of millennials to leave their jobs in 2021, citing mental health as a factor behind their departure, according to a survey by Mind Share Partners. Generation Z was even higher, reaching 81%.
Another survey by business consultancy McKinsey found that nearly 15% of the unemployed were away from work due to mental health issues. Other developed countries such as Germany, Spain and Japan are watching the same movement.
An NPR survey found that half of American families report that at least one person in the home has had serious problems with depression, anxiety, stress or sleep in the past few months.
This reinforces the need to improve communication and support mental health. There are indications that in response to this phenomenon, employers are beginning to address these issues more in their companies. About 40% of employers have updated their health plans since the start of the pandemic to expand access to mental health services, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s 2021 Employer Health Benefits Survey.
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