Despite the fact that the lifetime and yearly
prevalence rates of
mental illness continue rising, such
diseases have only been acknowledged as involved in
workplace health issue since the 2000s. Additionally, while the number of recognized cases of
mental illnesses is rather low compared to their
prevalence, they have a high likelihood of causing significant problems, including fatalities. Many
workers are terrified of losing their jobs due to
mental illness and therefore attempt to hide their
mental health problems. For this reason, clinicians involved in occupational and
environmental medicine should focus on interviews or
screenings to identify such hidden
mental health problems. More specifically, it would be helpful to evaluate
job stress and
depression in
workplaces to ensure appropriate preventive actions and thereby reduce the
prevalence of
mental illness.
Job stress not only causes
mental illness and dissatisfaction with
work, but also can increase the
prevalence and
morbidity of medical
diseases, as well as other physical
health problems.
Depression is a major contributor to
work loss and absence with effects surpassing almost all of the chronic medical disorder. These facts show why
measure of
job stress and
depression should be highlighted in the occupational settings. This article introduces a variety of assessment tools to examine
mental health, particularly stress and
depression, in
workplaces. These tools can be used by clinicians or professionals involved in the
mental health,
occupational safety, or
health service fields for
running diagnostics or
screening tests.