Businesses must look after staff

It is sobering to look at the figures from the recently published Working Life Survey carried out by the SA Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag). The mental conditions reported by workers countrywide look like the trauma you would expect to find on a bloody battlefield in a war.

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According to the survey, 52% of those interviewed had been diagnosed with mental health conditions. These ranged from 32% with depression, 25% suffering from stress, 18% from generalised anxiety disorder, 13% from burnout, and 10% who reported they had suffered trauma.

It would be easy to laugh off the findings in a typical "cowboys don't cry" manner, accompanied with the suggestion to "toughen up."