We help your employees return to work quickly

A broken arm needs peace and quiet in order to heal. So that must also be the case when we break mentally, right? Many believe that stress should be cured in the same manner as physical injuries, but this is a myth we need to break away from in order to treat the disease.

“Of course, there may be a need for a quiet period until the acute stress symptoms have diminished. The problem is that we often prolong this period more than necessary, which means that we shut down mentally instead of recharging. Too long a period of inactivity may impair both our ability to work and our self-esteem,” Lars Aakerlund, psychiatrist at PPclinic, explains.

In contrast, he recommends that we as employers and employees are a bit more impatient and faster at helping each other make a plan for how to move forward.

“Stress can be caused by many things, but, when it comes to work-related stress, it is important that you as employer do not just cross your fingers and hope that the system, such as the employee’s doctor, union and local authority, finds a solution. Instead, you need to take care of your employees and show them that you appreciate them and help them make a plan of action. For example, together with a psychologist or another impartial expert who can help identify the underlying causes and offer recommendations for the employee's return to work," Lars Aakerlund says.

Recently, this statement has gained a footing in Danish workplaces. But very few people are immune to stress. At worst, this belief may give us a false sense of security and mean that we do not address the conditions that may turn out to be unhealthy for the employees in the long run.

“Except for psychopaths and people with a particular metabolic disorder, no one is immune to stress. And that is a good thing, because stress is a natural part of our mental preparedness, which, in some situations, boosts our performance and, in other situations, functions as a warning sign of threats that we need to avoid. Therefore, it is important not to see robustness as the new cure against stress, because rather than eliminating stress, we need to dose it right”, stress expert Helle Folden Hansen explains.

She further explains that robust people may need just as much help as everyone else as they otherwise risk being on their last mental legs for too long.

“In order to avoid job dissatisfaction and notifications of illness, it is an advantage to be good at listening to yourself and know your boundaries. For this particular reason, we often see that when things go wrong for these so-called robust employees, it may be more difficult for them to get back on track because they have ignored stress signals and forgotten to listen to themselves for way too long. As employers, colleagues and partners, it is therefore important that we do not believe that superhumans who can handle everything actually exist.”

When we see a doctor, we expect to get exact information on our state of health. Because when we know the diagnosis, the treatment is often straight forward. However, this is not the case with a stress diagnosis. Stress is not an illness, but a reaction to straining life circumstances, which can be anything from grief, relationship problems and bad sleep to too much work and too little exercise.

“We need to stop considering stress an illness, because it is not. Stress is a reaction to straining life circumstances and can be caused by a long range of factors - from grief, relationship problems and bad sleep to too much work and too little exercise. Therefore, in order to treat stress, we must take a curious and holistic look at all these causes. We must also be aware that people may diagnose themselves with stress when they may actually suffer from depression or another mental disorder. This may result in the wrong treatment, which can be costly for society as well as the employee,” Lars Aakerlund, psychiatrist at PPclinic, warns.

He adds that a stress diagnosis unfortunately is more likely to end a conversation than start one. The result is often the standard advice of peace and quiet that we are comfortable with giving but that is rarely the best solution.

“In the situation, it may be comfortable and reassuring to be told to pull the plug and allow yourself some peace and quiet, but that does not shed any light on the actual causes. On the contrary, we may end up making our own explanations that are unfounded and that may isolate us and make it even more difficult to get back on track," the stress expert explains.

When browsing through the newspaper headlines about stress, it is easy to get frightened because most of us experience periods where things are moving fast. But there is no need to fear stress in short periods of time as small doses may actually have a positive effect on our performance.

“Stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol play an important role as they can boost our physical and mental capabilities to allow us to maximise our performance in special situations. This was important when we had to outrun a lion on the savanna, and, today, it may help us perform at an exam or make a deadline at work.

Even though stress may be harmful over a longer period of time, we must also appreciate that, in the short-term, stress may be an advantage that can help us achieve results that we otherwise would not have been able to”, Helle Folden Dybdahl, chief psychologist at PPclinic, explains.