IN POOR HEALTH

More and more of us are declining days off despite being unwell and persevering through an illness. As the Princess of Wales reportedly works from her hospital bed, Juno Kelly says it’s a bad example and we should prioritise our health

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The Princess of Wales may currently be recovering from abdominal surgery, but that isn’t stopping her from working from her hospital bed. The claim, reported in The Times this week, was met with both praise and concern. Some lauded Kate’s apparently relentless work ethic. Others suggested it set an unhealthy precedent. Wherever you stand on the matter, it typifies a wider trend: a social tendency to work through illness... even at its most severe.

For some, the reluctance to call in sick is a result of ambient workplace pressure: an unspoken rule, disseminated through disapproving glances and examples set by colleagues. For others it’s out of necessity, a response to work insecurity and a lack of sick pay. But for many of us it is entirely self-imposed, tied to the glorification of hustle culture and a widespread “suck it up” mentality enforced by neoliberalist attitudes to work. It has transformed “the sick day” into a luxury rather than a necessity, particularly in the UK.

A 2019 UK study found that 79 per cent of those surveyed go to work despite being physically or mentally unwell. Some 67 per cent reported experiencing guilt over taking time off work, even when they have health-related issues. The paradigm is so ingrained it has its own appellation, “presenteeism”, and has been found to cause depression and exhaustion. It also cuts into workplace productivity. “You’ll make errors and the work you do will be sloppy because you’re not well,” warns Dr Clark Gaither, a New York-based physician who’s written extensively about burnout culture.