Work Stress Assessment

We spend a large chunk of our lives working, so it makes sense that our work environments have a huge impact on our overall mental health. This tool can help assess how your work impacts your well-being.

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Most men of working age spend a great deal of their time at work – our quality of life, mental health, and physical and emotional well-being are heavily shaped by where we work and what we do.[1] 

Our relationships with our coworkers and supervisors, physical working environment, job security, sense of purpose and achievement, and workplace culture can all have positive or negative impacts on our day-to-day lives. 

The Impact of Work on Mental Health

Studies have found strong correlations between symptoms of depression and work-related problems, and have also found there is “circular causality”. This means if your job is causing you stress, you’re more likely to develop symptoms of psychological distress, and conversely, if you are suffering from depression or other mental health challenges, it’ll be more difficult to find enjoyment or fulfillment in your work.[1]

Although evolving work environments, particularly in advanced economies, have led to an increase in safety standards (with less exposure to toxic substances, unsafe temperatures, damaging noise, and other physical hazards), job security has become increasingly harder to find.[2] Today, employment has become increasingly precarious, and fewer workers are covered by protections offered by employment standards legislation, trade unions, or longer-term secure contracts. It’s common for younger people, in particular, to be working multiple insecure jobs outside of their chosen field, just to make ends meet.[3]

Making decisions about your career, income, or what jobs to take or apply for can be both stressful and exciting. An important step to take in this decision-making process is to assess the relationship between your current job and your mental health.

Assess Your Relationship with Work

The self-assessment below is adapted from the Workplace Outcome Suite and can be used to determine an overall sense of work-related stress.[4] 

After completing the survey, we’ll provide specific guidance and suggest some steps to take based on your responses.

Come back and track your progress

This test can be used as a tool to track which aspects of workplace stress are affecting you over time. This information can be used to try different strategies to target different aspects of workplace stress.  

Disclaimer

This assessment is based on the Workplace Outcome Suite (WOS), a psychometrically-validated tool that is used in workplace and clinical settings to assess the relationship between work, stress, and subjective well-being.[5] 

While this is a metric used by health professionals as a part of health assessments, this survey should not be used on its own as a self-diagnosis. 

Privacy

The Difficulties At Work survey is anonymous and no personally identifying information is required. It includes an opt-in demographic section that helps inform our understanding of our visitors and the development of our content.

Contact information for our email newsletter (if you choose to opt-in) and your responses are stored separately. See our terms, privacy, and conditions for more information.

References

  1. Cummins, R. A. (2000). Personal income and subjective well-being: a review. Journal of Happiness Studies, 1, 133-158.
  2. Sargent-Cox, K., Butterworth, P., & Anstey, K. J. (2011). The global financial crisis and psychological health in a sample of Australian older adults: A longitudinal study. Social Science & Medicine, 73(7), 1105–1112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.06.063
  3. van der Velden, Peter G., Contino, C., Muffels, R., Verheijen, M. S., & Das, M. (2023). The impact of pre- and post-trauma financial problems on post-traumatic stress symptoms, anxiety and depression symptoms, and emotional support: A prospective population-based comparative study. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 96, 102714-102714. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2023.102714
  4. Nowrouzi-Kia, B., Sirek, S., Granofsky, G., Morrison, M., & Steenstra, I. (2024). Validation of the 5-item workplace outcome suite on employee assistance programs for office workers. Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health, , 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/15555240.2024.2315132
  5. Ibid.