Finland's Ovi

by Juhani Artto

Job cuts have a greater impact on the mental health of men than women. This is one of the main conclusions in a recent study made by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, in cooperation with the University of London.

The sample covers over 26,500 public sector employees. More than 4,000 of them lost or left their jobs during the economic recession in the early 1990s. Almost 5,000 remained at work places where large-scale jobs cuts had been carried out. The rest, 17,600 employees, worked at work places where only small or modest job cuts had been made.

The researchers discovered that men who had lost their jobs used (1994 to 2000) about 64 per cent more central nervous system drugs than men at work places where job cuts had been small or moderate.

This came as no surprise to the researchers but they were surprised to find that mental health problems significantly increased also among men who had remained at work places where large or significant job cuts had occurred. In this group usage of central nervous system drugs was almost 50 per cent higher than among men at work places where only small or moderate job cuts had taken place.

Among female employees, at work places where large job cuts had been carried out, usage of central nervous system drugs increased by 12 per cent, compared with women at work places where small or moderate job cuts had resulted.

As indicators of drug usage the researchers availed of the Social Insurance Institute of Finland registry for purchases of depression, anxiety and sleeplessness drugs.

The increased use of psychic drugs associated with large-scale job cuts, reflects the damage to individuals in regard to stressful changes in working life, researcher Jussi Vahtera asserts in his assessment of the results of the study. He warns that the increased usage of psychic drugs may also have a deeper impact on the whole society.

In promotion of mental health it is important to pay attention to working conditions, Vahtera emphasises.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007 at 2:59 pm and is filed under Finland, Health Issues, Society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.