Strategies in Addressing Psychological Injuries at Work in Economically Transitioning Societies

Work-related mental health issues, also known as psychological injuries (such as burnout, stress, fatigue or depression as a result of long working hours, high work pressure and bullying or even violence), have become substantive workplace and social concerns due to the adverse effect on employees and peer workers. Consequentially, employers often face costs due to psychologically injured employee's long periods of absence or productivity loss. People suffering from such injuries may also face challenging family and social relations and some of them would have to resort to public resources for treatment and support. Employers and governments in developed countries have put great efforts on addressing these issues. In contrast, in developing countries, the focus of work injuries mostly lays on physical injuries. Mental health problems resulting from employment have attracted far less attention. It is urgent to identify: how work-related mental health issues have evolved; the determinants of the issues; and, the key strategies/practices that mitigate them. More specifically, in economies undergoing rapid changes, such as radical structural transformation (e.g. industrialization, globalization, digitalization), economic recession or even crisis, or changing management culture (privatization, performance targets, casualization), mental health of the labour force can be seriously affected. However, how these macro-economic or work cultural changes have shocked labour force and resulted in new mental health issues, and how employers and policy makers should respond to such pressures, still remain to be resolved. This Research Topic calls for new empirical research on the strategies in addressing mental health issues at work. We aim to 1) provide new evidence on the impact of economic changes on labour force mental health; 2) identify innovative market or community solutions to mental health issues at work; 3) identify and evaluate employer interventions to address or prevent work-related mental health issues; 3) understand government policy responses and their effectiveness.