What is anxiety?

Mental health is the state of our emotional wellbeing. If we are pushed to our limits, psychologically and physically, we can all experience issues such as stress and burnout. Someone with a poor work-life balance or who is continuously working long hours may be more likely to experience stress. 

However, mental health disorders such as anxiety disorders are what are known as mental health conditions. According to the UK’s Health and Safety Executive, some of the symptoms of stress and anxiety look similar. The main differences are the severity and duration of the symptoms and their impact on one’s daily life. Mental health conditions are long-term conditions which can be treated via therapy such as cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) and/or medication. 

What is the difference between stress, burnout and anxiety?

It can be useful for employers to be able to differentiate between stress, burnout, anxiety and anxiety disorders. While an employee might be able to resolve stress or burnout by taking time out of work or by resolving their work-life balance, an employee with a mental health condition may have to manage this on a long-term, day-to-day basis. 

Anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric disorder. The Northern Irish government explains that anxiety or stress can be helpful and also typical in situations that call for it. For example, you might feel nervous before an exam. However, too much anxiety can impair concentration and it can affect your ability to sleep. Other symptoms of anxiety include:

• Feeling worried most of the time
• Being on edge most of the time
• Not being able to concentrate
• Being irritable
• Having trouble getting to sleep at night
• Being hypervigilant or being too alert
• Feeling regularly upset or tearful

Many of these symptoms are brought on by the release of your body’s stress hormones, cortisol and adrenaline. While everyone has these stress hormones, someone with an anxiety disorder will be releasing these hormones more regularly. These hormones can cause physical symptoms such as:

• Sweating
• Feeling sick
• Heart palpitations
• Feeling faint
• Headaches
• Chest pains

Anxiety disorders can be broken down into different categories based on their range of symptoms. These are:

• Generalised anxiety disorder
• Panic disorder
• Phobias
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Social anxiety disorder

Anxiety in men

While more women report having anxiety disorders than men, this may partly be because they are underreported in men. This may be because men are less likely to come forward when it comes to their mental health conditions due to persistent stereotypes about emotional vulnerability seen as being unmasculine. The UK government states that men are more likely to commit suicide than women.

Bottling up or ‘powering through’ difficult feelings or emotional states may not be the solution and can increase the risk of physical conditions such as high blood pressure, heart conditions or digestive issues. Handling emotions and expressing emotional distress can be shown as:

• Being short-tempered or quick to anger
• Increased use of substances such as alcohol
• Withdrawing from friends and family
• Engaging in high-risk activities such as driving recklessly or gambling

However, as everyone expresses emotions differently, these may apply to anyone, and some men may be comfortable expressing emotions in different ways such as through crying or venting to a confidante.

Men’s mental health and demographic differences

It can be useful not to look at people demographically as a monolith. People can be more or less averse to discussing mental health depending on their cultural background or their upbringing.

Furthermore, the attitudes that Gen Z and Millennials have when it comes to discussing their mental health can differ to that of their older peers, due to these conversations becoming more normalised in their age groups.

Are people getting the right mental health support?

Even if more people come forward about their mental health, it’s still important that they receive the right support or tools to help manage it. We discovered that leaders might want to look beyond mental health awareness and instead research the right tools to manage stress and mental health in the workplace. Going beyond transparency and working towards policies and actionable solutions is the way forward.

How employers can support staff with an anxiety disorder

As more people open up about their mental health, it is important for businesses to put concrete support in place which means that men and women are not only heard when they report their concerns, but are also well-supported as well. These suggestions apply to anyone, but, they may be particularly useful in helping those who find it difficult to discuss their thoughts and feelings to come forward.

Providing free therapy or counselling

Free therapy or counselling can help leaders to identify mental health concerns in their employees. They can also bring in these services to help employees with existing diagnoses to obtain the support that they need. Some mental health support services have integrable services which can be accessed via Slack. They can also provide whole sessions or courses on a longer-term basis. These are sometimes known as employee assistance programmes (EAP).

Some businesses choose to offer mental health support as part of their private healthcare package. This can include free counselling sessions. Employees may need to be assessed by a registered general practitioner first before they are referred to a psychologist or a psychiatrist. Employees may be more likely to come forward if they know this service is confidential, so it may be worth addressing this if you choose to introduce free therapy or counselling sessions.

Creating an open door policy

You might wish to also create an open door policy which encourages transparency in the workplace without fear of repercussion. It also means that managers and leaders are more accessible to employees in the workplace. This can help build psychological safety, which is the belief among team members that they are allowed to take risks and express their views safely at work.

Stress risk assessments

As employers have a duty of care to support their employees, they are required by UK law to provide the right employee accommodations if an employee needs them to do their job well. Stress is considered a health and safety risk, and the HSE says that employers must conduct a stress risk assessment. 

A stress risk assessment can help you to identify stress in the workplace. By identifying potential stress risks in your employees’ responsibilities and workloads, you can help reduce the chances of an employee developing more serious mental health challenges as a result of chronic stress.

Workplace accommodations

Anxiety disorders are considered to be disabilities under the UK’s Equality Act 2010. According to UK law, employers have to provide reasonable adjustments for employees with disabilities so that they can fulfil their duties and responsibilities. The UK’s Department of Health suggests that businesses can provide accommodations for mental health conditions in ways such as:

• Reducing environmental noise such as by using partitioners
• Allowing for flexible working patterns and working from home days
• Allowing for temporary reallocation of tasks
• Job sharing
• Providing job coaches
• Providing employees with a buddy or mentor

Training staff in being able to identify the signs of a mental health crisis

Leaders can train their staff in helping them to identify the signs of a mental health crisis, as well as support them. You can teach them to identify changes in someone such as:

• Their general mood and/or behaviour
• Interactions with colleagues
• Working habits or patterns
• Stress coping strategies
• Attitude towards their work

Longer paternity leave

Allowing men to take longer paternity leave can have beneficial effects on mental health. This is because it can help them to feel more connected with their families, reduce work-family conflict and improve relationships outside of work. Many men suffer from mental health crises as a result of feeling isolated from family and friends. Therefore, longer paternity leave can help them to feel more connected and solidify important pre-existing relationships. Longer paternity leave can also help a spouse’s career to grow, as longer paternity leave allows men to take more care of their children.

Open-door policies can help people feel more confident opening up about their mental health. But having practical support at work can help boost their wellbeing in the long term. Leaders can provide this in the workplace by offering free therapy services and employee accommodations. Although not directly linked with mental health, longer paternity leave can also have beneficial effects by helping employees to reduce work-family conflicts and build a stronger support network.