Women professionals in 25 to 34 age group most

susceptible to stress: study

Professional women in the age group of 25 to 34 years are most prone to extreme stress, says a study
by 1to1help, which provides counselling service to over 150 companies in the corporate and IT sector
in the country.
The study was conducted on 51,300 employees working in MNCs and large Indian companies across
30 cities. This tendency is predominantly attributed to issues related to marriage and relationship,
followed by individual factors and work-related stress.
As per our study, 37 per cent of those surveyed admitted to have had suicidal thoughts at some point
due to relationship complications. Thirty three pre cent of those surveyed said they were stressed out
due to marital issues. Individual factors and work-related problems accounted for 13 and 12 per cent
of those felt stressful, says Karuna Baskar, director, 1to1help.
The numbers are disturbing, says Karuna. A lot of these people dont reach out for help. What is
worrying is that they are well-educated, are earning a good salary, yet unable to come out seeking
support. Also, it is the younger age group that is most vulnerable, adds Karuna.
Extreme stress not only has an impact on an individual and his family but also affects the workplace.
The analysis states that in large companies, productivity is hampered due to this. In case of death of
an employee, colleagues and superiors can be greatly affected and may even feel they have had a role
to play in the suicide.
The national data shows southern states including Karnataka and Tamil Nadu as leading the chart.
This may be because reporting of such incidents is better in these states and there is more
awareness, she adds. For Chennai alone, the study found 209 professional to be have had suicidal
thoughts at some point in time or made an attempt, of which 58 per cent were women. Many of
these women were in the 25 to 34 age group.
Community support can help such professionals, says Karuna.
We have many NGOs helping such people but there is no governmental support. Companies should
also be able to identify employees under distress and act immediately.
Rajeev Menon, global head, MeritTrac, a skill assessment company, says candidates should be
selected for the desired job roles based on their personality, and psychometric assessments should be
done before taking them on the rolls.
Mental health is critical for productivity and success at work. Absence of sound mental health can
lead to burn-out amongst employees, seriously affecting their ability to contribute meaningfully in
both their personal and professional lives. While organisations are extending the scope of
background verification to cover areas of personality of an individual, there is a need for holistic
assessment of a candidates personality to ensure they fit in with the culture at the workplace.

Organisations should start focusing more on psychometric assessment to measure candidates

susceptibility to stress. Periodic assessments can also help monitor levels of employees based on
which organisations can plan their employee engagement initiatives.