Depression on the rise
Ottawa — The number of Canadians visiting doctors because of depression has risen for the sixth consecutive year, according to research from IMS Health Canada. In the last six years, visits for depression have increased by 36 per cent across the country, making depression to the second-leading reason people visit their doctors, behind hypertension. Last year, Canadians visited office-based physicians 7.8 million times for depression. According to the Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health, depression costs about $92 billion a year in North America, two-thirds in economic and business loss and one-third in the direct costs of diagnosis. “The modern workplace is the greatest source of stress in the lives of Canadians, stress is a trigger for depression and this one disorder represents the most powerful source of worker disability,” said Bill Wilkerson, roundtable founder and president.
Accessing OHS from around the world
Hamilton — Occupational health and safety experts in Canada and Europe have joined together to launch a new Web site dealing with health and safety in the workplace. The Web site is a joint project by the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety and the European Agency for Health and Safety at Work and can be accessed at www.eu-ccohs.org. The new site will offer a portal of interlinked Web sites from across the world and offers information on best practices, research and statistics.
Less control over work overwhelms employees
New York — Most employees feel overworked or overwhelmed some time, according to a national U.S. survey. The Families and Work Institute survey, Feeling Overworked: When Work Becomes Too Much, found 28 per cent of employees felt overworked often or very often, and 29 per cent felt they didn’t have the time to step back and process or reflect on the work they were doing often or very often. The survey of about 1,000 working Americans also found that 45 per cent of those employees who say they have no control over their work schedules experience higher levels of feeling overworked compared to 33 per cent of those who can change their work schedules.
U.S. looks at suicide prevention
Washington — Suicide accounts for 30,000 deaths in the U.S. every year, the eighth leading cause of death for Americans. The U.S. Surgeon General recently issued the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention: Goals and Objectives for Action, which looks at preventative methods. Between 1952 and 1995, the number of suicides among adolescents and young adults has nearly tripled. “Only recently have the knowledge and tools become available to approach suicide as a preventable problem with realistic opportunities to save many lives,” said top-medical bureaucrat David Satcher.
Ottawa — The number of Canadians visiting doctors because of depression has risen for the sixth consecutive year, according to research from IMS Health Canada. In the last six years, visits for depression have increased by 36 per cent across the country, making depression to the second-leading reason people visit their doctors, behind hypertension. Last year, Canadians visited office-based physicians 7.8 million times for depression. According to the Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health, depression costs about $92 billion a year in North America, two-thirds in economic and business loss and one-third in the direct costs of diagnosis. “The modern workplace is the greatest source of stress in the lives of Canadians, stress is a trigger for depression and this one disorder represents the most powerful source of worker disability,” said Bill Wilkerson, roundtable founder and president.
Accessing OHS from around the world
Hamilton — Occupational health and safety experts in Canada and Europe have joined together to launch a new Web site dealing with health and safety in the workplace. The Web site is a joint project by the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety and the European Agency for Health and Safety at Work and can be accessed at www.eu-ccohs.org. The new site will offer a portal of interlinked Web sites from across the world and offers information on best practices, research and statistics.
Less control over work overwhelms employees
New York — Most employees feel overworked or overwhelmed some time, according to a national U.S. survey. The Families and Work Institute survey, Feeling Overworked: When Work Becomes Too Much, found 28 per cent of employees felt overworked often or very often, and 29 per cent felt they didn’t have the time to step back and process or reflect on the work they were doing often or very often. The survey of about 1,000 working Americans also found that 45 per cent of those employees who say they have no control over their work schedules experience higher levels of feeling overworked compared to 33 per cent of those who can change their work schedules.
U.S. looks at suicide prevention
Washington — Suicide accounts for 30,000 deaths in the U.S. every year, the eighth leading cause of death for Americans. The U.S. Surgeon General recently issued the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention: Goals and Objectives for Action, which looks at preventative methods. Between 1952 and 1995, the number of suicides among adolescents and young adults has nearly tripled. “Only recently have the knowledge and tools become available to approach suicide as a preventable problem with realistic opportunities to save many lives,” said top-medical bureaucrat David Satcher.
