# Not coping at work?



## hiker (Jun 22, 2008)

Apologies for the title, it really is a serious piece of research & I wanted you to at least hover your mouse over this! A colleague needs to access a broad cross-section of the public to obtain data for her research project (London University; not funded by any interest group), so what better than MHF? The background is as follows:

Please help!

Have you experienced stress, anxiety, depression or other mental health condition that has affected your work? Please complete a short survey to help us understand your experiences and take part in the prize draw to win £25 worth of Amazon vouchers.

As part of my Masters degree, I am investigating what employers can do to reduce the impact of mental ill health on their staff, thereby increasing well-being of employees and at the same time, their productivity.

The questionnaire is completely anonymous and requires only your opinions on what helped or would have helped your condition. It should take around 15 minutes.

Click on the link below by Wednesday 12th May for your chance to win.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/mhcsurvey

Thank you!


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## Bob45 (Jan 22, 2007)

Done.

Bob


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## an99uk (May 12, 2005)

*Survey*

done


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## Spacerunner (Mar 18, 2006)

ditto


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## Brock (Jun 14, 2005)

Tried it, some of the questions didn't make sense to me. Nor the answers. Maybe I missed something somewhere. Struck me as being leading questions. Sorry.


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## hiker (Jun 22, 2008)

Brock said:


> Tried it, some of the questions didn't make sense to me. Nor the answers. Maybe I missed something somewhere. Struck me as being leading questions. Sorry.


Thanks, anyway! I've seen a draft of it, but haven't tried to answer it for real. It's very difficult to judge how others will read questions - & I just deal with A level & GCSE Science, which is far more straightforward than this research!!!


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## GerryD (Sep 20, 2007)

Started it and then stopped as it appears to be one of those surveys where the person asking the questions is looking for someone to blame. Whilst many people suffer from stress at work it is very rarely triggered entirely by circumstances at work. I also do not believe that we should expect the workplace to provide more counselling/care servces. Employers are under enough pressure without being expected to provide care services. That is what they pay excessive national insurance payments for.
Many people who suffer from stress related illnesses do not discuss the with their partners or anybody else until it is too late, so how would you expect an employer to recognise the signs?
I am speaking from experience, I have suffered several bouts of very severe depression over the past 25 years and am currently in remission. I cannot say that I am cured as I do not believe that it is possible to cure depression fully.
Gerr


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## DTPCHEMICALS (Jul 24, 2006)

Stress can be caused thro`not having enough work.

Dave p


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## Jented (Jan 12, 2010)

Hi.
I was lucky,i had a job that i loved,it was not work for me,i got paid for travelling around,seeing different places and the seasons coming and going,also meeting so many different people,in varied situations.
If someone has M.Health Problems,i have the uttermost sympathy for them,two jobs i worked at employed people with this misfortune and they were a pleasure to work with. Armed forces,ambulance,fire and police force personel have extra ordinary pressures put on them so i can understand their problems,but if an ordinary job is challenging you to the point of ill health,perhaps its time you tried some thing different. 
Gearjammer


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## hiker (Jun 22, 2008)

GerryD said:


> Started it and then stopped as it appears to be one of those surveys where the person asking the questions is looking for someone to blame. Whilst many people suffer from stress at work it is very rarely triggered entirely by circumstances at work. I also do not believe that we should expect the workplace to provide more counselling/care servces. Employers are under enough pressure without being expected to provide care services. That is what they pay excessive national insurance payments for.
> Many people who suffer from stress related illnesses do not discuss the with their partners or anybody else until it is too late, so how would you expect an employer to recognise the signs?
> I am speaking from experience, I have suffered several bouts of very severe depression over the past 25 years and am currently in remission. I cannot say that I am cured as I do not believe that it is possible to cure depression fully.
> Gerr


Thank you for taking time to respond. I'm just trying to help a friend by publicising the survey - she does realise the issues involved, & is really not looking for someone to blame. The research is part of a business course, so is aimed at looking at the problem from both the employers' & employees' perspective. Long term absence is a difficult problem for the employer to solve (& they would know the reason in those cases), & has a knock-on effect for others having to cover the extra workload. On the other hand, there's been publicity during the recession over people afraid to discuss their problems & not operating efficiently at work due either directly to their condition or due to their medication, though what evidence the journalists have is also open to question. The questionnaire is attempting to explore some of these issues: the main research report consists of an analysis & evaluation of many publications & employment statistics, but it's obviously difficult to get first-hand data on such a sensitive issue.


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

Have done it but lots of the questions are based on assumptions and are VERY difficult to answer with any degree of reliability since they are based on "what would it be like IF the following was available" scenarios.

Which patently we cannot answer!

There are many pressures on individuals and it is impossible to summarise them as work based (or home based, or relationship based or finance based or anything else based) - it is the combination that promotes the response IMO.

I wish them well with the research project but am not convinced the questions on the survey will give much useful, or significant information that will be of value....

And if that material is used to develop or define resources that could be based on a misunderstanding of the complex nature f the questions and the need for supposition about "what if" - hardly as ound basis.

Dave


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## Jennifer (Mar 24, 2009)

I have completed the questionnaire, and would like to wish your friend Hiker all the very best. 
I have my own views on this subject, as do many others on this forum, so would not wish this thread to divert into a full on debate. Either the survey is completed by willing participants or not. 

Jenny


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## jncrowe (Feb 14, 2009)

*survey*

I worked for the NHS in the community(midwife) and i couldn't have done the work i was given to do even with a helicopter !!
i got very little support or help till i went to see my union rep who got me some counselling 
eventually i had to give up work sadly due to severe insomnia and panic attacks due to stress
Id worked for the nhs for over 20 years and felt very let down by them when i needed help there was none and i got a very poor pension too 
i could go on but i wont 
thanks for caring 
cath


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## midlifecrisismil (Sep 27, 2009)

DTPCHEMICALS said:


> Stress can be caused thro`not having enough work.
> 
> Dave p


Stress can also be caused by having to deal with staff :!: :!: :!:


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Quote, "Stress can also be caused by having to deal with staff".

Could not agree more and how about dealing with Banks, Government Departments etc. etc. I suspect many employers would know at least as much about stress as their staff, Alan.

Edit: I was unable to complete the survey partly due to having been the employer and presumably the person who would be expected to provide the help. 

I was unable to answer this question "5. How much do you feel that the following schemes related to health promotion, if implemented by your employer, would have helped your health condition?" 

I do wonder how knowing how someone feels now about the possible effects of therapeutic options which were not on offer and of which they have no experience can contribute to research. 

Sorry, it is a genuine question.


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## DTPCHEMICALS (Jul 24, 2006)

Have you experienced stress, anxiety, depression or other mental health condition that has affected your work?

Try being self employed and employing familly.

Building a business for 24 years to see it nearly slipping down the pan all within the last twelve months.
Seeing son in law looking for a job. Even though he does three jobs already.

trying to prize payments from customers that we still have running on 120 days credit.
You do not need to work for someone else to suffer, as most of our self employed members will tell you.

best of luck with the project.

Dave p Looking for a stress free job as a CC warden :lol: :lol:


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## teifiprt (Oct 2, 2007)

Done and I hope in some small way it helps anyone suffering from stress which is an insidious complaint.

Peter.


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Sorry, I did not make it clear that I do consider stress to be a very debilitating problem and would like to see it taken very seriously and treated effectively, I do however have huge reservations about putting the onus on employers, Alan.


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## Jennifer (Mar 24, 2009)

I agree with you Alan, the onus should definitely not be put on the employer, but it should be a 50 -50 responsibility, and unfortunately some employers do not recognise the condition as being serious.

I am strongly with those as being responsible for employees that stress hits the employers more so than the employees. Employees should dput themselves in the shoes of the employers sometimes and see how well they cope with just the general running of a business.

Jenny


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