Mental health is often overlooked in Africa's public health discourse, but its economic consequences are staggering. There is an urgent call for businesses to prioritize and support their employees' mental health needs. Cynthia Kodowu, a Ghanaian human resources specialist, told DW that she gives her workers some stark words of advice about protecting their mental health in the workplace.

"I say to my staff and to all other people that the money you're chasing, for which reason you don't want to take that break? If you do exit today, it's not going to be paid to you in the cemetery in any case," she says. Her warning is backed by worrying statistics about the state of people's mental health across Africa.

Figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) suggest that its Africa region has one of the world's highest suicide rates. In 2019, this was measured at 11.2 per 100,000 population, compared to the global average of 9 per 100,000. The WHO African region male suicide rate is the highest of all WHO regions at 18 per 100,000 population — compared to the global average of 12.4 per 100,000.

Some 77% of suicides occurred in low- and middle-income countries, with suicide rates in Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mozambique, Central African Republic, Botswana, Eritrea, Cameroon, and Ivory Coast particularly high. Beyond the statistics, workplace mental health is largely overlooked, according to Patience Osekre, a psychotherapist in Accra, Ghana. "For employees, their productivity is affected and it affects their well-being and impact on other aspects of the work," she told DW.

The WHO's World Mental Health Day 2024 — which focused on prioritizing mental health in the workplace — highlighted how poor working conditions and job-related stress can worsen existing mental health conditions. The WHO emphasized the need for global action to protect and promote mental health in the workplace, ensuring that people with mental health conditions are treated fairly and do not face discrimination, stigma, or violations of their human dignity.

Workforce rarely operating at optimum level

Globally, an estimated 12 billion working daysare lost every year to depression and anxiety, at a cost of $1 trillion per year in lost productivity, according to the WHO. "Global uncertainty, and insecurity is a huge thing, burnout and has become a common issue in the workplace," Osekre said. "We're talking about your sense of judgment, your decision making, your choices, your lifestyle, all this obviously affect the way you function the way."

Osekre added that since employees spend so much of their time in the work environment, their mental health there needs to be prioritized. "We need to also be emotionally literate, understand how we are feeling and even having the vocabulary to be able to express how we're feeling," Osekre said.

She noted that line managers and supervisors can become "fixated" on increasing workloads on their best employees in the hopes of improving productivity. "These are people who want to do their best for the organization because it matters to their self-pride," Koduwu said. "And so they just keep going. We've had some of the finest talents exit this world and it's all because they couldn't take the break."

Avenues for treatment lacking

Koduwu and Osekre agree that it would be helpful for businesses to look out for their employees, even in highly competitive job markets where each salary is highly prized. "As HR, we need to plan the workforce properly," Koduwu said. "We've created a culture where people feel obliged to take on more just to prove themselves. We're trained not to complain. We're trained just to say it's OK, give it to God, you're going to get better. "

This includes allowing overworked employees to take time off to improve their mental health without the threat of losing their job. This, according to Osekre, will lead to better output from workers. "The employee resumes with energy that would beat your mind, because this person has been able to sort out whatever challenges they were going through within that period," she told DW.

If you are suffering from serious emotional strain or suicidal thoughts, do not hesitate to seek professional help. You can find information on where to find such help, no matter where you live in the world, at this website: https://www.befrienders.org

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