Extended workdays that extend into the evening. Interminable Zoom conferences and passive-aggressive emails. Children, housework, and the act of walking the dog… In post-lockdown Britain, the benefits of working from home will undoubtedly be recognizable to a large number of people.
Before the pandemic, just one in eight of us worked from home, and in the majority of cases, this was only part-time.
Just under half of Britain’s working population, or over 13,4 million people, now work from their living rooms, kitchens, or home offices. This represents the most significant transformation in the job landscape in decades.
According to culture expert Malcolm Gladwell, this is having a significant impact on our mental health. Last week, the author of The Tipping Point and Outliers stated on the podcast Diary Of A CEO, ‘It’s very difficult to feel necessary when you’re physically disconnected,’ adding that ‘as we face the battle that all organizations are facing now in getting people back into the office, it’s really hard to explain this fundamental psychological truth, which is that we want to feel a sense of belonging and to feel necessary.’
He continued, ‘Working from home is not in your best interest. What have you reduced your life to if you’re just lounging around in your pajamas in your bedroom?’
Critics dismissed his ideas as ‘pseudoscience’ and ‘pop psychology’ in response to his remarks, which provoked a violent backlash.
However, he may have a point.
Several British psychologists voiced concerns about what has become the new standard for many.
They warn that a lack of social interaction, excessive use of computers, and frequent diversions may have a significant impact on mental health.
“Flexible working, a few days from home here and there, is a fantastic thing for many individuals,” says Dr. Clare Gerada, president of the Royal College of General Practitioners. “However, I am more concerned about enterprises that claim there is no longer an office to go to.”
Moments of interaction are essential for well-being; without them, you will experience more tension and worry due to the difficulty of separating work and home.
In the meantime, clinical neuropsychologist Katharine James states, ‘We need businesses to confront this issue now to prevent a mental health crisis in the future. I am especially concerned about millennials, who suffer from work-related isolation and anxiety and depression at a higher rate than any other age group.’
The British are more enthusiastic about working from home than the majority of our European neighbors. A global survey published in February revealed that the United Kingdom had the largest number of remote working days per week in Europe, with less than forty percent of major companies requiring employees to be in the office at least three days each week. It is in some ways in their best interest. If large businesses adopt home working, it is anticipated that they will save approximately £55 million annually by reducing their real estate costs.
Ten million Britons are anticipated to develop diseases like anxiety, depression, and eating disorders as a result of the epidemic, even though referrals to mental health specialists have reached historic highs.
No mental health professional would attribute this increase in psychological discomfort to a single cause. All mental disorders are complicated, frequently resulting from a combination of environmental and hereditary factors.
However, it is undeniable that WFH has exacerbated loneliness, a significant risk factor for mental illness, especially among vulnerable populations.
According to the charity Campaign To End Loneliness, the proportion of Britons who report being chronically lonely – feeling severely lonely most or all of the time – has increased by a quarter since May.
Jenny Manchester, a spokesperson, said that despite the termination of Covid restrictions a year ago, “we’re still witnessing an increase in loneliness, in part because younger people find it difficult to build relationships when working from home.”
Before the pandemic, US researchers discovered that journalists who worked remotely were 67% more likely to experience loneliness than those who worked in an office.
Dr. Gerada, who operates a hotline for stressed general practitioners battling mental illness, has witnessed this issue firsthand.
She stated, “I am aware of many doctors who are suffering due to the isolation of working from home with no boundaries around their work.”
Dr. Gerada, who initially trained as a psychiatrist before transitioning to general practice 30 years ago, continued: ‘They would log on at 7 a.m., complete a full day’s work, and then log off at 9 p.m. without a break, which is demoralizing.
There is no one to discuss issues with, and there is no chitchat during coffee breaks, so it is somewhat lonely.
‘One general practitioner’s chair broke because she sat in it every day for six weeks, except sleeping, during the pandemic. It is a metaphor of sorts. The chair collapsed, as did her spirit.
If you move 10 meters from your bedroom to your office every day, you may experience deteriorating mental health.
According to a study, video calls are no substitute for in-person communication.
Experts in communication at Stanford University in the United States evaluated the quality of social interactions on the video platform Zoom last year. Professor Jeremy Bailenson of the Virtual Human Interaction Lab at Stanford observed that eye contact during video chats was unnaturally “excessive and intense.”
He said that the inability to communicate nonverbally, for as through hand gestures, makes these talks feel strange and awkward.
Other studies have revealed no difference in loneliness between older persons who use a large number of digital communication tools and those who use a small number. Spending more time alone at home may increase the chance of getting abnormally high levels of anxiety, according to experts.
Dr. Gail Kinman, clinical psychologist and visiting professor of occupational health psychology at Birkbeck University, explains, “We were initially advised that the office was related with a risk of Covid.” So many already instinctively associate the working environment with a potential hazard.
Natural worriers develop anxieties about the unknown, thus the more time they spend avoiding the office, the more terrifying these threats become. The anxiousness frequently extends to aspects of the workplace. Perhaps you convince yourself that using the subway or meeting a large gathering of people is too dangerous.
Anna Albright, a cognitive-behavioral therapist in London, reports that she is witnessing more anxiety than ever before, in part due to rising social isolation.
She continues, “People feel threatened, so they cling to their safe area, which is frequently their residence.” However, avoiding the world simply serves to foster anxiety and terror.
Researchers from University College London discovered in January that anxiety levels among Britons were the highest since the third shutdown in January 2021.
Despite these evident psychological effects, a survey performed in October found that more than half of all home workers would quit if forced to return to the office full-time.
Dr. Kinman states, “People dislike feeling compelled to do something.” If we are not given an option, we will resist.
Once we become accustomed to anything, it is quite difficult for us to stop the habit.
There is a physiological basis for this observation. Brain imaging studies indicate that repeating the same sequence of activities causes the brain to generate chemicals associated with a sensation of satisfaction.
Typical unpleasant feelings related to the workplace include stress.
Nevertheless, being in an office atmosphere may provide psychological respite.
Ms. James, a clinical neuropsychologist, explains, “When we go to the office or another place other than our home, we change our thinking.” When we relocate to a new location, our brain pauses the development of negative emotions that arose in a previous setting. When we are later reminded of negative emotions, they are typically less distressing because we have had time to distance ourselves from them.
This is a psychological principle known as compartmentalization, which enables us to persevere despite adversity.
Dr. Gerada says, ‘We have significant limits between home life and work life, and it is at these boundaries that our identities change. For instance, I find it odd on an emotional level to do professional consultations in my bedroom. You must be able to return home, remove your metaphorical white coat, and assume a different character, whether that be mother, girlfriend, spouse, wife, or whatever.
There may be further advantages. Dr. Stella Chan, a clinical psychologist and chair of evidence-based psychological treatment at the University of Reading, explains that depression is characterized by a lack of enthusiasm to do anything. This results in a vicious loop in which patients feel like failures because they have accomplished nothing, making them even more miserable. However, research indicates that if you challenge people to perform an undesirable task, they experience a strong sense of accomplishment.
This boosts activity in reward-related regions of the brain.
This eventually alleviates melancholy thoughts and feelings. However, she advises, “This only works if work is a pleasant place to be.”
Intriguing evidence also suggests that solitary work conditions may hinder professional effectiveness. In April, researchers from Columbia University in the United States gathered three hundred pairs of participants and asked them to devise creative uses for a plastic object.
The majority of the volunteers communicated through video calls, while the remainder did it in person.
After the trial, the face-to-face pairings generated more high-quality ideas and spent more time examining the product. According to the researchers, the digital participants spent the majority of their time concentrating intently on the face of the other person on the screen. And studies of professional chess players have revealed that in-person adversaries employ more complex and demanding moves than their internet counterparts.
Sir Simon Wessely, professor of psychological medicine at the Institute of Psychiatry, states, “Working from home is inextricably tied to online meetings, and this comes at a cost.”
He argues that the deteriorating quality of interactions between coworkers reduces innovation, creativity, spontaneity, and worker trust.
According to experts, domestic distractions are also damaging to productivity.
Dr. Kinman states, “Many people believe they are adept at multitasking, but studies indicate that very few are.” ‘ Switching from one work to another is mentally draining, and it takes some time to regain focus.
According to the evidence, doing this frequently can add up to two hours to a workday.
People end up performing poorly in all of their tasks, which exacerbates their stress.
However, all experts concur that returning to the workplace will never be ideal for everyone.
Ms. Albright, a cognitive-behavioral therapist, states, “The truth is that there are some people who dislike their job or the organization.” They obtain their social life elsewhere, which serves them well.
She notes, though, that they are in the minority. The majority of people’s mental health will benefit from increased office time.
