New research has confirmed a dramatic increase in mental health insurance claims by young Australian workers. Over the past decade, the number of employees aged in their thirties who've lodged a claim for a mental health injury at work has risen by more than 700 per cent.
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00:00Jamie suffered a major psychological response after being bullied on a construction site
00:07two years ago.
00:10He was diagnosed with an ongoing mental disorder which has forced him out of work.
00:15For me, I feel like it's just robbed me of my identity, you know, I'm no longer a painter
00:20and decorator in the construction industry, yeah, I'm a 40 plus year old disabled pensioner
00:28which, yeah, sucks to say.
00:34There's been a sharp rise in the number of young Australians experiencing similar outcomes.
00:39The research is showing that we have an exponential rise in the number of people who are leaving
00:45the workforce for good because of their mental health.
00:49The biggest increase in mental health claims is in the 30-40 year age group, up 730%.
00:56Payments for mental health claims now make up almost a third of all permanent disability
01:02claims.
01:03The reasons behind the sharp rise in claims are complex and not well understood.
01:08There is a greater awareness of mental health conditions and more workers are reporting
01:13symptoms, especially younger workers who make up a greater proportion of the workforce.
01:19But what else is going on?
01:21What we've shown is that the most recent cohort of workers, young people, not only do they
01:27have more mental health problems, but at any given level of work stress, that affects their
01:34mental health more, i.e. they are less resilient to work stress than they used to be.
01:40The rise coincides with an increase in support services.
01:44So there's a lot more awareness, there's a lot more push to help seeking, there's a lot
01:48more training of managers, mental health first aid, R U OK?
01:53Help available, but at times too late.