 "On mental health, Economic Survey red-flags overexposure to social media, longer work hours")
The Economic Survey 2024-24 tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Lok Sabha on Friday blamed overexposure to social media, poor workplace culture and longer working hours among other things for depleting mental well-being among Indians.
It recognised poor mental health as having a direct impact on the economy and emphasised that a community-level approach is needed to tackle mental health problems.
A hostile work environment, unmanageable work-life balance, less facetime with family and spending too long on social media are all contributable factors toward poor mental health that ultimately affect economic growth.
“Spending long hours at one’s desk is equally detrimental to mental well-being. Individuals who spend 12 or more hours at a desk have distressed/struggling levels of mental well-being, with a mental well-being score approximately 100 points lower than those who spend less than or equal to two hours at a desk,” the survey noted.
Poor relationships with managers and the lowest levels of pride and purpose at work are linked to the highest increases in the number of days an employee is unable to work. The findings also indicate that productivity is influenced by multiple factors. For instance, even in roles with the strongest managerial relationships, approximately five workdays per month are still lost.
A person’s choice of food, in terms of clean and healthy eating habits, also puts a mark on his/her mental well-being. Survey results indicate that individuals who seldom consume ultra-processed or packaged junk food tend to have better mental well-being than those who consume it regularly. Likewise, those who rarely exercise, spend much of their free time on social media or have distant relationships with their families tend to experience poorer mental well-being.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“While these interventions at the government level are being contemplated, there is an urgent need for school and family-level interventions to encourage healthy pastimes (meeting with friends, playing outside). Investing time in building close family bonds would go a long way towards keeping children and adolescents away from the internet and improving mental well-being,” the survey added.
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