Many people tend to take sick leave due to depression, stress, and anxiety.
By Thanuja.M
Bengaluru, April 8, 2019.
A report given by the Lancent Institute of Public health, shows that the workplaces in India should have wellness programmes, which could save the Indian corporate sector up to US$20 billion, reducing employee absenteeism associated with non-communicable diseases.
The report tells us that the lifestyle, stress, and depression in the various workplaces in India is one of the main reasons for the growing rate of non-communicable diseases among the working class – which leads to absenteeism. As many people will not be able to go to work if they fall sick physically and/or mentally, this brings down the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India – as about 3.7 million people are composing the working class.
The report gives a solution to this problem stating that these issues occur due to the absence of wellness programmes in the workplace. As of now, India is moving towards achieving greater targets with respect to the economic status of the country; with the introduction of “Make in India” It is very much needed for our working class population to be fit as a fiddle to contribute towards the nation’s economy.
Bangalore is the IT hub of India. Thus, the absence of proper wellness programs in these Multi National Corporations (MNCs) also affects them. Almost all the major MNC’s are here in Bangalore. India stands as the second in the number of people faking sick leave.
Most of the leaves are attributed to the stress and mental pressure they experience in their workplace. This does not only affect an individual, but the whole corporation, as there is a huge loss of revenue and production. Almost 64% loss has been attributed due to these sick leaves.
Vishnu Priya, who works with an MNC said, “Yes, we do face a lot of stress. We have a rooster according to which we work. Some days we have a morning shift and some days we have the night shift. We do not get proper sleep due to this reason. This increases our stress and anxiety, as we don’t feel like working.”
One of the ways to come out of this is to conduct wellness campaigns or programmes in MNC’s to relieve the people working there of stress, anxiety and depression.
Dr. Madan, a psychiatrist from Bangalore said, “This system is already been in execution at few MNC’s here. But, it should come to other places also. The cooperation should be extended from both the person as well the company, in which he/she/they works. If the company gives moral and financial support to the people working there, the social stigma that only people with serious mental illness can visit a psychiatrist will be irradiated. Thus the company, as well as the person, will be profited.
The wellness programme, if it is been conducted in the company, will be highly benefitted. The programmes and checkups should be done on a regular basis. The programmes should be conducted by people who are well trained in the field, so that there is no mismanagement.”
