The Bully-Free Workplace: Stop Jerks, Weasels, and Snakes From Killing Your Organization

Psychosocial Factors and Stress and Trauma

The link between psychosocial factors and stress-related health problems is a direct one. Targeted individuals are under assault. These assaults are threatening and are sources of stress—that is, stressors. Assaults set off a physiological and biological sequence that results in stress. This is not an imaginary sequence. The good news is that you can stop bullying without ever having to admit complicity in its establishment or maintenance. Instead, claim credit for launching the initiative for solely proactive reasons—to be the early adopter, the industry leader, or the company that cares most about its most valuable assets, its people, or because “it's the right thing to do.”

Examples of employers showing they care about the psychological health of employees do exist. There is awareness in some major companies of clinical depression and its impact on worker productivity. Work is also affected when depression is brought from home to work. Depression is known to interfere with sleep, which in turn leads to counterproductive or endangering fatigue. Depression leads to a drop in concentration and a decreased ability to perform complex cognitive tasks that preclude optimal performance. A depressed employee is the antithesis of an engaged employee. But whether depression is caused by events at home or events at work, it affects all aspects of work life.

Depression may also be at the core of “presenteeism.” Presenteeism is a measure of lost ...