One of the ways that harassment manifests in the workplace is through the creation of a hostile work environment. A worker may feel as though every day that they go to work may be stressful for them. Continuing to work in a hostile employment environment can lead to career setbacks for workers who may lose their motivation to perform to their best capabilities and who may not have the glowing references they deserve given their job performance. In some cases, the workers facing a hostile work environment may eventually develop medical symptoms related to their experiences on the job.
What health issues have an association with hostile work environments?
Mental health challenges
Obviously, those dealing with overt abuse in the workplace May develop issues with their mental health. In some cases, workers become incredibly anxious. They over-analyze every situation out of fear of triggering retaliatory behavior from others. Other times, those experiencing hostile work environments may develop symptoms of depression as they withdraw from other relationships and activities they previously found enjoyable. Those symptoms may persist even after they leave a position where they had to endure mistreatment from coworkers regularly.
Compromised sleep
Many medical professionals readily acknowledge that adequate sleep is the foundation of all other aspects of health. The human body needs rest to perform optimally. The stress of a hostile work environment can leave the targeted worker unable to fall asleep at night and may also wake them up, after which they may struggle to get back to sleep. Extended periods of sleep deprivation can cause a host of issues including physical and mental health challenges and declining work performance.
Cardiac issues
There is a strong association between chronic stress and heart issues. People may develop higher blood pressure or even issues with arrhythmia because of highly-stressful work environments. Those issues can persist long after a worker leaves the hostile work environment. In some cases, the stress that they experience on the job might affect their health to a point where they can no longer work in certain high-demand professions because they no longer meet the baseline medical standards set by the industry.
Instead of trying to ignore or downplay the consequences of harassment in the workplace, workers may need to fight back to protect themselves, their careers and their health. Reporting issues to management, and possibly taking legal action, can potentially help workers demand accountability and even obtain compensation for enduring routine or particularly egregious mistreatment in the workplace.