How Different is Stress as a Young Professional and How Do Young People Address It

The world romanticizes being overly busy and puts mental and emotional pressure on young people to keep busy. Being busy and being productive are two different things. Yet, people are so overloaded with work that it’s almost a toxic lifestyle habit.

Nowadays, young professionals are suffering from mental health disorders, but mainly anxiety. In an interview, Claude Silver, chief heart officer of VaynerMedia, said, “I have seen a lot of anxiety with this younger generation just coming out of universities and into the workforce.”

She adds, “I’ve also noticed the number of people who are on antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications. It’s astonishing how many of these young people are medicated.” Silver’s line of work as a human resource officer noticed that she took a counsellor’s role.

Because of her lack of proper credentials, she believes that the future of offices may involve hiring professional therapists to augment the assistance that employees need, especially in urgent situations where intervention is critical.

Studies have shown that anxiety surpassed depression as the top reason why young adults seek professional counselling intervention in the past decade. Moreover, lifestyle news also include stories where anxiety attacks affect a worker’s performance.

Silver further mentions, “When you have someone spinning out in the midst of an anxiety attack, you’ve lost them for the rest of the day.” With an onsite professional counsellor’s help, young professionals can calmly address the anxiety without letting the episode affect their work.

Understanding Mental Health Concerns and Its Effect on Young Professionals

As defined by healthline.com, anxiety is the body’s natural reaction to stress, such as unsure anticipation of what lies ahead. However, if your feelings of anxiety are lingering, intense, and debilitating, you may be suffering from anxiety disorders.

Anxiety disorders can manifest in various manners. It can either be a panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, or obsessive-compulsive disorder. The most common symptoms of an anxiety attack are the following:

Rapid breathing
Increased heart rate
Trouble concentrating or focusing on tasks at hand
Difficulty sleeping
Restlessness

Several theories indicate that back the increasing number of people suffering from anxiety disorders. The first one is that the continuous innovation of technology limits people’s face-to-face interaction that is crucial for sound mental health.

In relation to technological advances, workplace connectivity affects workers’ personal boundaries, which is causing stress and unnecessary worry. Moreover, globalization and intense competition put an overwhelming amount of pressure on people, even young professionals, to excel.

There are a lot of reasons that can be attributed to the rising number of people suffering from anxiety. Fortunately, there are offices and groups that gave rise to the support of mental health awareness.

For example, PwC’s UK office appointed its first-ever mental health leader. Then, the office launched their campaign “Green Light to Talk,” which promoted the welfare and overcoming the stigma of talking about one’s mental health at work.

Anxiety Caused by Work Situations and Employers

There are instances when anxiety is caused by the actual work the young professional is engaged with. If it isn’t the working conditions, it can be the young professional’s people. The anxiety heightens as the young professional constantly questions whether or not the company is taking advantage of his inexperience.

A lot of young professionals leave a job they like because of the management’s lack of consideration for their mental health. More so, if the management or the working conditions are the reason for their anxiety.

Unpredictable working shifts, a hostile environment, and a management that doesn’t proactively respond to worker concerns are the primary reasons for work-induced anxiety.

Overcoming the Mental Health Stigma and Making the Workplace Prepared

The future sees the intervention of an onsite mental healthcare professional standard for organizations and offices. Aside from this major shift to mental health priority, the workplace can adapt the following practices to promote healthy and functional relations between employers and employees.

An open line of communication between young professionals and supervisory management. Such communication will pave the way for a trusting relationship and an understanding of changed behaviours crucial for anxiety attack identification.
Work on reasonable working conditions and adjust when necessary for workers to accommodate mental health breaks.
When a young professional’s actions are causing you to be concerned, take the time to communicate.
Provide support and close contacts of health professionals that you can refer to workers.
Rest and recovery must be a priority, especially when it has been a hard week for everybody.

As the world becomes harsher because of emotions bottled up in negativity, it is a gem to exercise kindness and understanding. After all, if workers are the bloodlines of an organization, they deserve to reciprocate their efforts.

Experiencing Stress as a Young Professional