For nearly two decades, work-related mental health problems have been growing significantly and constitute an increasingly important issue for both individuals and organizations. Indeed, recent statistics reveal that there has been an increase in problems related to psychological balance among managers and employees. More specifically, surveys on the health and well-being of the Quebec population conducted by Santé Québec between 1987 and 1998 demonstrate that the inability to work due to mental-health problems nearly doubled, increasing from 7% to 13% [110].
At the same time, 30% to 50% of absences due to a long-term disability that are compensated by private insurers are attributable to mental health problems, compared with 18% in 1990 [39]. Faced with this highly alarming situation, more and more managers and employees are seeking information on mental health at work. This Web page is intended to serve as a reference site. It contains a wide range of high quality information which is regularly updated.
The first section provides a definition of stress and presents its main symptoms. This is followed by a review of the individual and organizational consequences of stress. Since the source of work-related mental health problems may stem from the individual and the organization, the individual and organizational risk factors that can be harmful to workers' well-being are presented. We then provide a list of the various tools that can be used to measure the consequences and the degree of exposure to the sources of stress. This is followed by a section that describes the three levels of prevention (primary, secondary and tertiary) of work-related mental health problems and provides various courses of intervention in this field. The issue of compensation of work-related mental health problems in Quebec is also addressed. Finally, to assist you in your search for information, we include a list of sites on mental health as well as a directory of resources in the area of mental health at work.
Launching of a prevention kit for work-related mental health problems
The Université Laval's Chair in Occupational Health and Safety Management and severals partners launched a prevention kit for work-related mental health problems. Entitled "Mental Health at Work.From Defining to Solving the Problem," this unique kit in Canada will allow workers and organizations to deal better with this problem which is the main reason for the increase in work absenteeism.
The number of publications on work-related mental health problems has been growing continuously for many years. Thus, a multitude of articles and books deal with this problem, which affects both individuals and organizations, and attempt to analyze its symptoms, causes and consequences. However, few studies have managed to grasp the problem in its entirety, and still fewer have presented it in terms that are simple and accessible to everyone.
This is precisely what the Chair in Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Management at Université Laval has set out to do by creating this series of booklets which are aimed at raising awareness about this issue. Entitled Mental Health at Work. From defining to Solving the Problem, this series is the result of research carried out on the prevention of work-related mental health problems (Brun, J.P. et al. 2002), and is intended for everyone who wants to understand the issue and to become better equipped to prevent it. This series comes in the form of a kit made up of three booklets on the scope (Booklet1), causes (Booklet 2), and prevention (Booklet 3) of the problem.
