Workplace stress often hides in plain sight, creating a double filter that keeps it invisible. The subject’s sensitivity pushes many affected individuals to retreat into privacy, making symptoms of work-related stress hard to identify. Additional factors include a lack of clear recognition within management structures, which means anxiety and depression rarely appear in official cancellations or medical notes. They are often logged as generic contingencies, obscuring them as legitimate occupational illnesses and leaving victims without a clear diagnosis.
When the unseen emerges, it refuses to stay hidden. Mental health struggles can ignite not only anxiety but also cardiovascular events like heart attacks and strokes. This is echoed by health professionals who warn that stress at work can become a major contributor to serious injuries and illness, underscoring the need for proactive prevention and recognition in the workplace. policy and labor safety authorities.
Work anxiety: when stress at work leads to psychologist visits
Unions have long called for change. They urge social security systems to update the catalog of occupational diseases and to give more weight to mental health conditions. In this context, international bodies have begun to acknowledge burnout as a work-related condition. In 2019 the World Health Organization added burnout to its international classification of diseases, and this inclusion has informed policy discussions since the start of 2022. This shift reflects a growing consensus that the mental strain from work can be a legitimate health concern that deserves formal recognition and support.
Judicial decisions
Is it time to address the stressful situations that affect workers’ health? Recent court decisions in Spain point in this direction. In Madrid a ruling linked a high-stakes work situation to a worker’s anxiety crisis, addressing the crisis as a potential work-related incident. Similarly, a separate case in Castilla-La Mancha highlighted how confusing orders from management can provoke an anxiety episode that disrupts performance and wellbeing. These rulings emphasize that mental health episodes in the workplace may have tangible consequences for employment and compensation discussions.
“Stress not only leads to anxiety; it can trigger heart events as well, becoming a primary driver of work-related incidents.”
Legislation on occupational risk prevention, established in the mid-1990s, requires employers to address psychosocial risks that threaten employees. This includes not just the physical conditions of work, but also factors such as time pressure, relationships with supervisors, and workload. The aim is to create safer, healthier work environments by identifying and mitigating stressors that could impact a worker’s health and productivity.
Many organizations still lack robust protocols to address these issues. In recent years, inspections have increased in response to concerns about psychosocial risks, with penalties possible when employers fail to act. There is growing awareness that unseen risks extend beyond the physical workspace to digital environments, where issues such as the right to disconnect and after-hours expectations can influence stress levels. Caution remains essential: without adequate rest and recovery, stress can escalate into longer-term health problems and extended sick leave.