Mental illness accounted for 914,000 new or long-standing ill health cases last year, and was the most common category of work-related sickness, the HSE’s report says, accounting for 51% of cases.
Industries with higher than average rates of work-related stress, depression or anxiety included public administration and defence, human health and social work, and education.
The HSE found the coronavirus pandemic was a major contributory factor to work-related mental ill health. In the years prior to the pandemic, the rate of self-reported stress, depression or anxiety had shown signs of
increasing, but the current rate is higher than the 2018/19 level.
