The typical work environment offers many opportunities for slights or upsets to be caused.  New research from West Virginia University highlights the mental toll these slights can cause us.

The paper highlights how seemingly low-grade forms of mistreatment at work, such as being on the receiving end of a sarcastic comment or eye contact from a colleague being avoided, can amplify any mental health issues employees have.

“We know from prior research that minor forms of workplace mistreatment reduce employee engagement,” the researchers say. “But our paper provided an explanation for why this was occurring. Mistreatment increases suicidal ideation (thoughts) and because of that, work engagement is reduced.”

Mental distress

The researchers surveyed a few hundred adults who were both in full-time work and who had previously been diagnosed with conditions such as bipolar disorder and depression.

“What we wanted to do was hone in on employees most likely to experience these effects because that gives us greater opportunity for intervention,” the researchers explain.

The volunteers were asked to rate various workplace mistreatment experiences alongside their level of workplace engagement and mental health over a period of several months.  It’s a process the researchers believe is the first to link these various aspects together.

“These actions are not egregious or illegal,” they say. “It’s not even considered bullying or harassment. These are ways, on a day-to-day basis, that you might hurt somebody but in a low-grade way. It’s how we may behave and we don’t think twice about it.”

Exacerbating the situation

The results also appear to suggest that these effects are worse for people who aren’t getting treatment for their mental health issues, which is a situation covering around 50% of the participants.  It’s a problem that the researchers believe is still being overlooked, despite a renewed focus on mental health across society.

“We all focus on bottom lines and productivity but we fail to take into account employee experiences and the effect mental illness can have on those experiences,” they say.

What’s more, it’s a situation that has quite probably been exacerbated by the Covid pandemic, with the researchers hypothesizing that the remote work so many of us have been forced into may intensify any effects of mental health we may experience.  The virtual communication that has become the bedrock of remote work raises the possibility of being misconstrued, which adds a layer of instability to an already delicate situation.

“In some ways, our results may be even more important now because we know that depression and anxiety are at the highest levels they’ve been,” the researchers conclude.

“Suicide and depression are very taboo, dark topics. It can be heavy at times to research, but that’s the responsibility we bear to bring these experiences into awareness for organizations and to tell them we can do better. And it’s our responsibility to do better for those individuals who need us.”