How a Toxic Work Environment Affects Mental Health

A toxic work environment is characterized by negative behaviors such as bullying, incivility, manipulation, discrimination, and a lack of trust. Not only is incivility in the workplace on the rise, but according to a recent study, it is compromising one of our most critical assets—our mental health.

One study published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology looked at the correlation between toxicity in the workplace and symptoms of insomnia, a common symptom of clinical depression.

Signs of a Toxic Work Environment

There are several signs that a work environment might be toxic. Some common features include:

• Excessive stress
• Lack of organizational support
• Poor group cohesion
• Poor interpersonal relationships
• Gossip
• Low enthusiasm
• High turnover
• Poor trust
• Fear of failure
• Employee disengagement
• Low morale
• Harassment and discrimination
• Poor communication
• High absenteeism
• High employee turnover
• Burnout

What Causes a Toxic Work Environment?

Some factors that can contribute to a toxic work environment include:

Poor Boundaries

Toxic work environments are often characterized by a lack of boundaries. Employers may have excessively high expectations of their employees and push them to prioritize work above everything else.

Lack of Trust

In a toxic work environment, employees don't trust management or each other. And employers often demonstrate that they don't trust their workers. Micro-managing is the norm, and people are often left feeling like they are always being monitored.

This can put workers on edge and make it difficult to feel supported. This creates stress and reduces team collaboration.

Workplace Incivility

Workplace civility, as described by McKinsey and Company, is “the accumulation of thoughtless actions that leave employees feeling disrespected—intentionally ignored, undermined by colleagues, or publicly belittled by an insensitive manager.”

It is also defined as "low-intensity deviant behavior with ambiguous intent to harm the target, in violation of workplace norms for mutual respect."

Contempt

One of the hallmarks of toxic relationships is the presence of contempt. This is characterized by insensitivity, disgust, mocking, name-calling, and outright hostility.

Poor Sleep Quality

Sleep is a critical factor in our overall well-being, including our work performance. It has long been established that poor quality of sleep has significant implications for both our physical and psychological well-being.

For example, insufficient sleep increases a person's risk of developing serious medical conditions, including obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Additionally, lack of sleep over time has been associated with a shortened lifespan.

Negative Rumination

In examining the indirect effects of workplace incivility on symptoms of insomnia and thus overall health, the determining mechanism was found to be negative rumination, or the mentally replaying of an event or disturbing interaction with a co-worker long after the workday has ended."

Workplace toxicity causes people to ruminate over negative work events. This preoccupation contributes to increased workplace stress.

Further research has shown that organizations are suffering as well. These adverse effects include decreased productivity, lower levels of employee commitment, and increased turnover.

How to Cope With a Toxic Workplace

The good news is that sufficient recovery or coping techniques may be able to mitigate the negative effects of a toxic work environment on employee well-being. In particular, relaxation and psychological detachment.

The ability to psychologically detach from work during non-work hours and relaxation were shown to be the two mitigating factors that determined how workers were affected or not by a negative work environment.

Below are descriptions of these recovery experiences and how they were shown to reduce the negative effects and enable employees to thrive in the most toxic of work environments.

Psychological Detachment

Psychological detachment represents an avoidance of work-related thoughts, actions, or emotions. Some of the items used in the study to measure employees' levels of psychological detachment in the evenings included the following: "I didn’t think about work at all" and "I distanced myself from my work."

Detachment can be fostered through a variety of specific activities, including exercise. Planning future events, such as vacations or weekend outings with family or friends, are examples of positive distractions outside of work.

Relaxation

It should come as no surprise that prioritizing work-life balance was shown to be another effective buffer against the detrimental effects of workplace incivility. Relaxation has long been associated with fewer health complaints and less exhaustion and need for recovery.

Relaxation during non-work time can help buffer negative work rumination and insomnia symptoms. Additionally, it has been identified as a moderator between work characteristics and occupational well-being, between time demands and exhaustion, and between job insecurity and the need for recovery from work.

Some activities outside of the office that can foster recovery include volunteering, meditation, taking a walk, listening to music, spending time with friends, and other positive social supports.

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How to Change a Toxic Work Environment

Based on the results of the study, the authors suggest the following interventions that companies can address to reduce workplace incivility.

• Raise awareness
• Ensure protection for employees
• Ensure accountability
• Train and model appropriate behavior
• Train supervisors on aggression-prevention behaviors
•  Improve emotional resilience skills
• Offer training on recovery from work, mindfulness practices, emotional/social intelligence skills

Takeaway

You may not be able to control certain events during work hours or the characteristics of your workplace environment. However, what you do have control over is how you choose to cope. Most importantly, finding time to relax, spending time with friends and family, and engaging in activities that will shift your focus away from work during non-work hours.

If you find that you are still experiencing distressful symptoms and that they are interfering with your functioning, it may be a good idea to speak to a therapist who can help you learn additional strategies for coping.

If despite having done all you can still nothing has changed, it might be time to consider the possibility of removing yourself from the toxic environment and looking for a new, more fulfilling and less distressful job. Your health may depend on it.