Publication

Co-worker experiences of workplace mental health issues: insights from five case studies

Published: 27 November 2023

ERC Insight paper

Associated Themes

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  Mental Health

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This short paper uses narrative data from interviews with participants in five organisations to explore the ways in which team members experience the mental health issues of colleagues. Evidence is presented showing that workplace mental health issues can impact on team performance in several ways. Firstly, individuals experiencing mental health issues are not always ready or able to disclose these issues to their colleagues. When accompanied by declining workplace performance, this can impact on team trust and cohesion, and can have serious impacts on team performance. Secondly, co-workers often feel pressure to remain empathetic and tolerant in the face of these issues, which can necessitate emotional labour, and may lead to burnout and exhaustion. Thirdly, feeling unappreciated for ‘picking up the slack’ due to a colleague’s mental health issue can lead to feelings of resentment which may eventually mean that the co-worker declines to provide further help.

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