MUMBAI, OCT 9 :On eve of the World Mental Health Day, International SOS, the world’s leading health and security risk services company, has put a spotlight on increasing importance of mental health resilience for global workforces.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has reported that 15 per cent of working-age adults lived with a mental disorder in 2019, and 12 billion working days are lost every year to depression and anxiety alone.

International SOS Assistance Centre has already seen a five per cent increase in number of requests for assistance related to mental illness during the first half of 2023, as compared to the same period in 2022.

Dr Vikram Vora, Medical director at International SOS, said, “Indian subcontinent highlights that the unique challenge of having one out of every seven Indians affected by mental health and wellbeing issues can only be met through a comprehensive understanding of the psychosocial risk landscape followed by concrete and coordinated action.

“Employers, leaders and managers need to be aware and accept that the rapidly evolving world of today, especially after the pandemic, is no longer a place where employees feel naturally safe and protected given the nature of problems like economic uncertainty, uncertain employment, growing infectious diseases, climate anxiety and geopolitical crises, expose employees to unforeseen risks,” he said.

In this scenario, organisations would do well which reassess their employee health and prepare well-being strategies to identify gaps and fill them in the quickest possible time, he pointed.

Programmes such as public awareness, de-stigmatisation, identification, addressal, rehabilitation and

mainstream re-integration have the highest likelihood of making a difference to employee lives, Dr Vora added.(UNI)