New research from a UK insurance company has claimed that a quarter of those in teaching have been prescribed or are taking medication to help manage work-related anxiety. Of course, our sector is not unique in this problem and according to UK charity the Mental Health Foundation, mental health issues are the leading national cause of sickness absence in the workplace.
As many as 70 million work days are lost each year due to mental health problems in the UK, annually costing employers approximately £2.4 billion.
Back in education, our annual Health Survey earlier this year found that 77 per cent of our 2,000 respondents had suffered from stress within the past year and 60 per cent from anxiety. Of those who had suffered from any form of mental illness as a result of work, 85 per cent said this had contributed to problems sleeping, 57 per cent experienced mood swings, and 31 per cent panic attacks. So what can be done to alleviate or even prevent this epidemic of mental health problems in the sector?
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