Sir, Sathnam Sanghera trivialises an important issue (“To keep me stress-free, no more awareness days, please”, times2, Nov 10). He is right that stress is not a medical condition. However, evidence shows prolonged exposure to stress is linked to conditions such as depression and anxiety, as well as heart disease.
Sanghera misunderstands the difference between pressure as a positive force at work and stress — when the pressure people are under exceeds their ability to cope. He is lucky that as a newspaper columnist he is doing something he enjoys and has significant control about what he writes and how and where he works. Many working people are not so lucky.
The CIPD survey Sanghera cites, shows that 6 per cent of employees report they have poor mental health as a result of stress and common mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression. Nine out of ten of these say this reduces their performance at work. Stress, anxiety and depression are also one of the main causes of working time lost to ill health in the UK.
We are not at the stage, as Sanghera suggests, that “employers are failing if their workers are not perpetually elated”. However, good employers take their duty of care to their employees seriously and understand the link between good people management, employee wellbeing and productivity.
Ben Willmott
Senior Public Policy Adviser
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development