The majority of employees around the world want their company to introduce mental health support with younger adults most strongly in favour.
Axa’s Mind Health global research also found employees whose organisations already provided mental health support it were more likely to have better mental health than those which did not.
It surveyed 17,000 adults in 16 countries and found a third (32%) were experiencing mental health issues with young adults most likely to be reporting so (44%).
For young adults, 52% stated that extensive use of social media and digital devices negatively affected their mental health.
And 42% of young adults had been on sick leave for mental health reasons.
This was compared to 27% of the overall population which had risen from 23% a year ago
Salary concerns (54%), workload and deadlines (52%), as well as work-life balance (51%) were found to be the most significant impacts on employee wellbeing.
Flourishing or struggling
The research grouped respondents by whether they were flourishing, getting by, languishing or struggling.
Overall 25% were flourishing, 32% were getting by, 29% languishing and 14% struggling.
However, the results were almost exactly reversed for young adults, with 17% struggling, 40% languishing, 29% getting by and just 14% flourishing.
Notably, in companies with mental health policies in place, the proportion of all people struggling was halved (8% vs 16%), and they were more likely to be flourishing or getting by than those without (63% vs 53%).
It also found 42% of young adults were potentially affected by depression, anxiety or stress at severe or more extreme levels, compared to 25% in the general population.
Other differences showed only 23% of women were scored as flourishing compared to 27% of men, while 57% of women said they worried about future uncertainty in a rapidly changing world compared to 48% of men.
Axa European Markets and Health CEO Patrick Cohen said: “Employers can make a difference by offering solutions and investing in their employees’ mind health.
“Work environments that promote mind health and support their people with prevention and remediation solutions are far more likely to reduce absenteeism, create team engagement and retain their talents.”
