Council workers 'experiencing mental health conditions'

22nd June 2010

Employees at South Cambridgeshire District Council appear to be increasingly at risk of developing mental health conditions, depression and stress following a number of redundancies in 2009.

During the last financial year, the authority struck off six members of staff and also considered making further slashes among its sheltered housing wardens, Cambridge News reports.

Human resources coordinator for the body Lindsey Smith noted that sickness rates climbed "significantly" during the third and fourth quarters of last year.

"The percentage of illness relating to stress, depression and mental health issues continues to be of major concern and appears to be increasing," she remarked, adding that viral illness levels are also concerning as stress can result in reduced immunity to bugs.

In addition, it was seen that an average of 12.65 sick days were taken per full-time worker, compared with a goal of 9.5.

However, one way of tackling workplace stress and possibly improving the economic inclusion of people is hypnotherapy, recently advocated by Stephen Gidney of Stockton who found the treatment helped him manage panic attacks, NE Business reported.

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