What's the leading cause of employees' mental health challenges?
The number of work-induced mental health disorder cases in Japan hit a record high in 2023, with workplace bullying and harassment the leading cause, according to reports.
Official government data revealed 883 work-induced mental disorder cases in 2023, up 173 from the previous year.
This is the fifth consecutive year that Japan saw record-high cases of work-induced mental health disorders, Kyodo News reported.
There were also 12 more cases of suicides and attempted suicides, to reach 79 cases during the fiscal year through March 2024, according to the report.
Causes of work-induced mental health disorders
Superiors bullying and harassing employees at work was the leading cause of mental health disorders in Japan, with 157 incidents, up by 10 from a year prior. Other causes include:
- Experiencing or witnessing serious accidents or disasters (111)
- Sexual harassment (103)
- Significant changes in workload or job duties (100)
- Customer abuse (52)
By occupation, there were 112 cases of work-related mental health problems from employees in social security and welfare, as well as in nursing care. They reported the highest cases among occupations in Japan.
Meanwhile, there were also 3,575 applications for workers' compensation coverage related to mental disorders, according to the report.
This is an increase of 892 from the previous year, and a new record high for the country.
An official from the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare attributed the rising cases to the growing awareness of the public of mental disorders, and that they qualify for workers' compensation.
