Lawyer Monthly Magazine - August 2019 Edition

I’m Suffering from Depression And Anxiety How Do I Tell My Boss? 112 WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM | AUG 2019 Legal Lifestyle I’m Suffering from Depression And Anxiety – How Do I Tell My Boss? A top Priory psychiatrist talks you through it, with 10 important things to remember. In today’s economic climate, many can be forgiven for feeling ‘grateful’ to have a job and therefore all too easily the added pressures of working life get accepted rather than questioned. Many may even consider it a weakness to suggest they are unable to cope. But mental health has risen up the workplace agenda - and it starts by having a conversation with your boss. Recent research by Business in the Community found the majority (84 per cent) of managers acknowledged that employee wellbeing was their responsibility. More than 11 million days a year are lost at work because of stress, and employers have a legal duty to protect employees from stress at work by doing a risk assessment and acting on it. After all, stress, anxiety and depression may result in significant mental health problems when experienced over a long time. Dr Paul McLaren, consultant psychiatrist at Priory’s Hayes Grove Hospital in Kent and at Priory’s high street Wellbeing Centres in Harley Street and Fenchurch Street, central London, talks through how best to raise the issues. He says there are several approaches employees can take - and by “tackling the taboo”, they may be pleasantly surprised by the positive response. After all, he says, healthier employees improve the bottom line.