Why Anxiety in the Workplace Matters
The negative effects of anxiety on occupational outcomes are compounded when symptoms are severe or when people with anxiety also have depression. Furthermore, some of the symptoms that typically accompany anxiety, such as sleep disturbances, are also known to impair job abilities. In employees with anxiety or depression, insomnia and short sleep duration significantly increases the risk for impaired work performance and long-term absenteeism, even in people with only mild anxiety or depression (van Mill et al., 2013).
Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illnesses in the United States, affecting 18% of American adults (Kessler et al., 2005a; Kessler et al., 2005b) and as many as 33% of people at any point in their lifetime (Bandelow & Michaelis, 2015). Globally, anxiety disorders are the sixth-leading cause of disability (defined by years of life lived with disability), with greater rates of disability occurring in females and in people aged 15 to 34 years (Baxter et al., 2014; Hendriks et al., 2014). Anxiety disorders are associated with a poorer quality of life compared to not having anxiety, including higher rates of divorce and unemployment (Olatunji et al., 2007).
Anxiety disorders are associated with poor job productivity and short- and long-term work disability (Plaisier et al., 2010; Plaisier et al., 2012; Sanderson et al., 2007; Hendriks et al., 2015; Erikson et al., 2009), resulting in more than $4.1 billion in indirect workplace costs (American Psychiatric Association, 2004). Anxiety disorders lead to an average of 4.6 work days lost to disability per month and 18.1 work days lost to disability per 3 months, as well as an average of 5.5 work days of reduced productivity per month (Harder et al., 2014). Workers with anxiety disorders have more than 1.5 times the risk of being absent for at least 2 weeks than those without anxiety and more than double the risk of having poor work performance (Plaisier et al., 2010). In fact, in one national survey, 30% of working adults with an anxiety disorder reported reduced work productivity over the previous 4 weeks while a mere 0.5% of working adults without a mental illness reported the same (Harder et al., 2014).
Having an anxiety disorder is not a sign of personal weakness. In fact, experts believe that anxiety disorders are caused by a combination of biological and environmental factors, much like physical disorders such as heart disease or diabetes (Sharma et al., 2016; Shimada-Sugimoto et al., 2015). Anxiety can be successfully treated with cognitive-behavioral therapy (a type of psychological treatment) or antianxiety medications, with the best results coming from a combination of both (Bandelow et al., 2015; Roy-Byrne et al., 2010). Unfortunately, anxiety disorders are frequently underdiagnosed and left untreated (Collins et al., 2004). Less than one-quarter of people with anxiety disorders seek treatment (Roness et al., 2005), and only an estimated 28% are offered minimally adequate treatment in primary care—the most common setting in which people are diagnosed with and treated for a mental illness (Weisberg et al., 2014). Meanwhile, some people live with anxiety disorder symptoms for 2 years or longer before even being diagnosed (Baldwin et al., 2012).
- Separation anxiety disorder: a disorder of excessive and persistent fear of separation from home or from attached individuals;
- Phobias: disorders of intense, irrational fear of specific items, events, or places (e.g., heights, blood, insects);
- Social anxiety disorder: a disorder of extreme discomfort with social interactions or situations;
- Panic disorder and panic attacks: sudden experiences of intense terror that include sweating, dizziness, increased heart rate, and feeling like you are losing control or dying; and
- Generalized anxiety disorder: a condition of excessive, constant worry about a wide range of items, events, and topics such as health, money, relationships, and everyday life (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
Posttraumatic stress disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder are well-known related conditions that DSM-5 considers to be similar but separate from the anxiety disorders listed above.