The economic turmoil caused by the current COVID-19 pandemic has numerous implications for workers everywhere, both during the crisis and in the following period of readjustment. Financial crises have been known to severely impact employment and work conditions, but this one, in particular, is expected to have a massive impact. With job vacancies dropping in the second half of March, U.S. workers quickly found themselves in an unexpected situation of unknown duration. This, in turn, came at a cost calculated in both jobs and mental health.
Since the beginning of the pandemic and the harsh home confinement measures that followed, people around the world have been exposed to a worrying amount of stress. Some of them felt forced to work from home, while others lost their jobs and their incomes. As schools everywhere closed, childcare needs kept rising, forcing parents to sacrifice their free time. Families everywhere juggled new health risks, new working conditions, and the constant uncertainty about the future. This has led to an increase in depression, stress, and anxiety levels. With remote jobs being known to affect mental health, the new working conditions proved to be a new cause for concern.
While there is no certain way of knowing when the present situation will end, there are a few things we do know about the impact of remote work on mental health.
Relieve Anxiety: Saving Money Is Easier
While the financial future of the family is one of the most important problems facing workers everywhere, it’s important to note that considerable savings can be made by working remotely. Transport, work attire, food, and childcare costs can be adjusted in ways that may provide employees with new opportunities to save money every day.
One of the best ways of coping with uncertainty is to acknowledge it as an inevitable part of life, while also focusing on changing the things that can be changed. Saving money while working from home may prove to be more than a simple financial investment. It’s a good way of managing anxiety and also a good psychological investment.
Managing Stress: People React Differently to Telework
While working from home requires most people to make some changes in their daily routines, some enjoy remote work more than others. Recent studies suggest that the effects of working from home are still unclear, with some people performing better in a traditional office setting, while others react better to flexible work. With neither being known exclusively for negative effects, it seems that increased stress may be an effect of bad time and work management.
Psychological health in the workplace should be a priority for both employers and employees. During the present pandemic, mental health is under more pressure than before, especially for those who experience multiple disruptions in their work. However, it’s worth noting that 97% of U.S. employees said that working from home would change their lives for the better.
Dealing with Depression: The Need for Human Connection
Working from home may provide important benefits when it comes to reducing the time and cost of commuting, office space, and food, but it does come with less office interaction. With teamwork being known to increase efficiency during times of high stress, this loss can be more significant than it first seems. If the lack of peer interaction leads to prolonged loneliness, it may affect not only work performance, but also mental health.
Loneliness has been linked to numerous psychological problems, including depression. Michael Raster, MD, ProHealth Medical Group psychiatrist, showed that people who often feel lonely can become depressed. “Clinical depression can cause physiological changes in the body,” he added. One way of preventing depression seems to be acknowledging and fulfilling the need for human connection while working from home.
Understanding Yourself: Emotional Regulation May Be the Key
Traditional work provides employees with teamwork experience and, ultimately, understanding others and working well with them. However, it rarely teaches employees to respond well to their own needs and wants. If regulations in a traditional work environment are often an important task reserved for the management and HR teams, when working from home they also become part of employees’ duties.
Emotional regulation is no exception to the above, especially since it may provide workers with a useful tool for understanding themselves and accepting their own emotions. Negative thoughts are part of life, but in an office environment, they can be managed by talking to others or replacing them with distractions. Employees working from home may need to manage these thoughts alone, by accepting them without letting them take over.
Self-care: Being Your Own Gentle Manager
Working from home means accepting the new risk of seeing work and family life overlap, which may result in increased stress. In order to avoid these new problems, employees should be encouraged to maintain a healthy work-life balance. It’s also important to note that the closing of schools and daycare centers during the pandemic put a new burden on working parents. Working mothers have been especially impacted by these measures, with no relief in sight.
As employers everywhere are quickly adopting more flexible work arrangements, employees also need to adjust to a new work environment. This means they will need to find new ways of balancing life and work, while they are striving to be their own gentle managers.
