The UK is at risk of becoming a ‘burnt-out nation’ as more than a third of adults (35%) experienced high or extreme levels of mental ill health, pressure and stress “always” or “often” in the past year, according to a study.
The poll of more than 2,000 people for the charity Mental Health UK found one in five workers needed to take time off work because of poor mental ill health caused by pressure or stress in the past year.
The charity is calling on prime minister Rishi Sunak to convene a national summit bringing together government ministers, employers and experts to determine how best to create healthy workplaces and support people to stay in or return to work if they are struggling.
Other findings from the poll included that more than a third (35%) of the working adults said they did not feel comfortable letting their line managers or senior leaders know if they are experiencing high or extreme levels of pressure at work. Nearly one in three (31%) said being bullied or intimidated by other colleagues had caused stress in the last year.
Worryingly from an occupational health perspective, the survey suggested workplaces remain ill prepared to support staff experiencing high levels of stress.
Mental health and burnout
Younger men reporting ‘alarming’ levels of burnout
Only 49% said their employer had a plan to spot signs of chronic stress and prevent burnout. A further 22% did not know if their employer had such a plan in place.
Other factors contributing to burnout included high or increasing workload or volume of tasks (54%), working unpaid overtime beyond contracted hours (45%), and feeling isolated at work (42%).
Four in ten workers (38%) were experiencing stress because of taking on additional work because of the cost-of-living crisis.
Six in ten (64%) said poor sleep was contributing to stress and burnout. Financial uncertainty because of the cost-of-living crisis (53%), money worries in general (53%), poor physical health (46%), and feeling isolated (43%) were all other factors.
When it came to what people felt best alleviated stress and burnout at work, 56% cited having a healthy work-life balance, while 43% said having a supportive line manager or supportive colleagues and peers (42%).
Other valued support included reasonable adjustments at work (38%), professional support for mental health such as employee assistance programmes or coaching (29%), and organisations offering staff training around mental health at work (24%).
The likelihood that someone had taken time off work in the last year because of poor mental health caused by stress decreased with age, with 34% of workers aged 18- to 24-years-old having done so, compared with 15% of those aged 55 or over.
Workers aged 35 to 44 were most likely to have experienced high or extreme levels of pressure and stress often or always in the past year (40%), while workers aged 55 or over were least likely (33%).
Brian Dow, chief executive of Mental Health UK, said: “What is clear is that we urgently need government to lead a national conversation about how we can best help people to stay in or return to work, given the positive impact that secure employment has on mental health.
“Part of this will involve looking at how employers can better spot and manage stress before it becomes burnout. But the onus isn’t just on organisations, and while it is positive that staff are more likely to raise concerns about stress and mental health than in the past, we will need to consider what support and adjustments from employers are reasonable.
“There will be no simple, one-size-fits-all solution, but a failure to properly understand and address the challenges faced will threaten our long-term health and success as a nation,” he added.
Separately, a freedom of information request has revealed that employee absence for mental ill health within Border Force has risen by 45% as the organisation grapples with the impact of dealing with small boat crossings.
A report in The Guardian has said the Home Office spent £133,000 on mental health support for frontline Border Force officers after mental health-related absences rose sharply as deaths in the Channel also increased.
Border Force staff were off on average for more than two days a year for reasons related to mental ill health between the springs of 2021 and 2023, the figures showed, up from 1.4 days between spring 2020 and 2021.
In the summer of 2023, the Home Office also awarded a contract worth £133,000 to the Police Treatment Centres, an external charity that provides “intensive, police-specific physiotherapy and rehabilitation, for injured and ill police officers”, the newspaper reported.
The treatment centres provided facilities to send staff to residential rehabilitation for up to two weeks, inclusive of accommodation and food, physiotherapy, psychological assessment and treatment services for frontline officers.
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