00:00This morning on BRN Lifestyle, how work conditions impact your mental health.
00:09Joining me now to discuss this is Dr. Douglas McLaughlin of the Cleveland Clinic.
00:15Dr. McLaughlin, thanks for joining us this morning. Really great to have you.
00:19Absolutely. Thanks for having me.
00:21Let's start off with a basic question and I want to get your insight and your expertise.
00:25Do our work conditions, how we work, where we work, do they affect our overall well-being and our mental health?
00:35Well, certainly there's some overlap with all of that.
00:38So we often kind of look at what we call kind of work-life balance and making sure if you're fortunate enough to have an employed position to be able to not spend your whole life working.
00:51Right. You have to also enjoy family and hobbies and interests and the big picture, work-life balance.
01:02Yeah, absolutely. And does it matter, for example, if I have an office job or if I have a job, for example, say I'm an Amazon driver or I work in the oil fields?
01:13I mean, does that type of where you do your work, does that impact your mental health?
01:18Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, people should choose where they are most comfortable working, whether they want to be outside or in a research laboratory, working from home remote.
01:30I mean, there's pros and cons to all of those things.
01:32But I think that the concept of work-life balance still resonates wherever you're working.
01:38And does that seem to differ if I'm a third shift employee versus first or second shift?
01:45So I work, maybe work nights and this would be hospital workers or EMTs or police firefighters, people who, or could be factory workers.
01:54I mean, does that have an impact on our mental condition?
01:57Yeah, certainly. I mean, it can play a role into work stress if you're working night shifts, especially if it's shift work.
02:04So maybe you have a couple of days where you're night and then you flip it and you have some time during the day.
02:09And so, again, some people will prefer that, like people doing hospital work as a physician, you know, working with the night shift folks, often they'll choose that.
02:18Some of it is just the lifestyle. It works better for them.
02:21Some of it is, you know, just the practical, you know, nature of their family and their kids and parents and what they need to do.
02:28But shift work can be a challenge. So it definitely can affect your overall sleep cycle, which then gets into effect in that rejuvenating sleep and what we call kind of the deep wave sleep.
02:40And so if you're if you're not able to balance that out and make sure you're getting enough sleep, then it will absolutely have an adverse effect on the quality of your mental health.
02:49Yeah. And you talked about the work life balance. And I think, you know, regardless, I would think regardless of which shift you work and how you work, it's very important.
02:58Are there things that as an employer should be either looking out for or be offering to workers to help their mental well-being and with that work life balance?
03:09Yeah, I think it's important for the employer to realize what a job does for a person. Right. So it gives them structure.
03:18It brings, you know, social purpose, self-esteem. It engages people in life overall.
03:26And so if you start with the employer understanding that and then you kind of look at what might an employee seek from their employer. Right.
03:37So beyond money, like we call a lot of this is like the secondary benefits of employment.
03:43So making sure that the workplace is, you know, first and foremost, a safe environment to work, making sure that you're encouraging teamwork, you know, making sure the patient or the employee feels that their work matters.
03:58Right. So don't just send out surveys and ask questions and then don't make change. Right.
04:03Like if you're going to look for feedback, do something with it and accept honest feedback from your employees and make sure that there's growth opportunities. Right.
04:13So people want to feel like they're not just stuck in what they're doing, but that there's potential to move up or do something different.
04:20You know, so flexibility is the key and really looking at what we all learned during this pandemic with COVID is, you know, flexibility is absolutely paramount.
04:31And having this now like the hybrid options to work, employees are actually a little bit more empowered now than ever to be able to kind of asking for stuff we used to not think about. Right.
04:45So employers are need to be aware. Yeah. And then I just want to pick up on you started talking about ancillary or secondary benefits.
04:55I think a lot of employers are being flexible or at least considering being flexible because there's a lot of job insecurity out there.
05:04I think there's a lot of, you know, with inflation, there's financial insecurity. Is that your what's your perspective on that, sir?
05:11Yeah, absolutely. I mean, the insecurity is, again, another stressor, you know, in your life. Right.
05:18If you're not sure if you're going to have your job next week, it's hard to plan for your future, for your family.
05:25And and having that ability to also, you know, have confidence that if you need to take time off work, that you're going to still have a job when you when you return.
05:36Whether that's vacation time, you know, to rejuvenate or whether it's, you know, family leave or help, you know, care for your own health or your family's health.
05:46But so that family leave act that came into play a few years back, you know, it's essential to to providing that job security for people.
05:56Yeah. Secure. I mean, you don't want to put yourself at risk.
05:59I think a lot of people in the past maybe felt like, OK, if I don't go to work, then I'm not needed and if I'm not needed, I'm not going to have a job that creates a lot of stress.
06:09Yeah, I think that we've shifted that, you know, hopefully.
06:12And and even, you know, the the idea of having a benefit of some paid paid sick leave is also important.
06:22Maternity leave has morphed now into also paternity leave, which is super important.
06:28And so all of these things create a better culture and a better society.
06:35And I mean, really, if you're if you're going to work because you have none of those benefits and you're sick and you're not well, your performance obviously isn't going to be the best.
06:46You're going to put yourself at risk for losing your job, for not performing.
06:49And you're also going to spread potentially whatever illness you have, you know, possible.
06:54And so overall, you're going to be less productive.
06:57And then if you do lose your job, the few folks remaining in your area, right, are then going to be taxed with picking up your workload while they're trying to find someone else to fill that spot.
07:09So it creates a downward spiral, you know.
07:13Oh, it does. And I think, you know, anecdotally, I think that, you know, employers.
07:18I think, look at this now and say, I want productivity and I don't want to have to train up people.
07:24It costs a lot to train an employee, especially certain types of employees.
07:28They don't want to have to do that.
07:30Let me let me ask you about workplace stress.
07:31And if I'm if I'm feeling stressed, not me personally, but if someone is feeling stressed, how do you know how to where to see how to seek help or when to seek help, how to seek help and where to seek help?
07:44Well, again, I mean, just being aware that this discussion, you know, is taking place, that people deserve to feel, you know, healthy and to basically be able to enjoy, you know, life.
08:00Right. So when I see people that are struggling with their mental health but don't really want to engage maybe in taking a medicine or even even engaging at all.
08:12I look at this what we call the somatic or physical changes. Right.
08:16So if you start to see major changes in your sleep patterns, in your concentration, in your appetite, I mean, and it could go up or down, like weight can go significantly up when people are stressed or it can go significantly down.
08:31So those physical changes, that's what I would say to look for and make sure you reach out and get the proper help.
08:39And, you know, the goal is to return to that, you know, full joy in life and and and not be the victim from this.
08:49Yeah. I mean, you should you should have a positive. I think if you have a more positive outlook on life.
08:54Yeah, absolutely. It's not only better for you, but better for everyone around.
08:59Yeah. Yeah, I would agree.
09:00Yeah. Well, Dr. McLaughlin, we're going to have to leave it there.
09:04Great information, great research, and we look forward to having you back on the program.
09:08It's wonderful. I appreciate it. Yeah. Thank you so much.
09:11And don't forget to subscribe to our daily newsletter, The Morning Pulse, for all the news and one place details, of course, at our website.
09:18And we're back again tomorrow for another edition of BRN.
09:21Until then, I'm Jeff Snyder. Stay safe. Keep on saving.
