Employees seek psychiatric help to cope with stress from bosses

THANE: In recent times, counselors and psychiatrists have seen a number of office goers come to them for help and advice. Due to increase in stress levels, increase in workload and unsympathetic bosses, many office goers have been suffering from depression.
Constant pressure from bosses to meet targets and deadlines and getting negative remarks on their performance has led to increase in stress levels. This has aggrevated to such a point that it affects a persons work as well as personal life.
Experts claim that the impact of stress is so high at times that employees reach the office building but hesitate from entering the gate.
“The common reason for a person’s stress at work is not only due to too much workload, but also the pressure built up as their bosses or immediate superiors expect them to achieve a set target or to complete work within a particular time-frame. A person needs to understand that his stress level has increased and that leads to anxiety or depression when they think about what their bosses would be thinking about their work, even after they reach home. If one starts losing confidence and starts doubting themselves then it ends up affecting their health. Also, it is seen that many times people stop going to work and call in sick just to avoid the stress,” said Dr. Shailesh Umate, psychiatrist at the Institute for Psychological Health.
Counselors and psychiatrists at the Institute for Psychological Health have been receiving a number of calls from office goers seeking help on how they should deal with their seniors.
“Earlier we used to get calls from people who were having issues like relationship with their parents, partners, lovers, etc. But those calls have reduced and we are now receiving more calls from people who are facing trouble with their superiors or bosses and are asking us for suggestions and tips on how they can deal with the same,” said Madhavi Kulkarni, counselor at the Institute for Psychological Health.
Experts claimed that though this phenomena is not uncommon wherein people complain about their bosses, it is now seen that many are coming ahead and asking for suggestions of how the situation could be tackled.
“People now just want to end their misery and want to know how they could vent out their frustration. Office goers are advised to do breathing exercises, yoga , running, etc. Also, many times we ask them to communicate with their bosses,” added Umate.
Not only experts but many firms have confirmed that the increase in stress levels among employees has been affecting productivity.
“It gets difficult for a person who is irritated to do their work with concentration. Due to this, the quality of work gets affected. So to deal with this issue many firms have indoor games, , seminars and interaction with counselors. Some firms even hold yoga, zumba and other exercise sessions for their employees,” said an HR manager from an IT firm.