Is My Colleague Experiencing Distress? – Selfassessed Ability to Recognize Mental Distress in Colleagues

In recent years, there has been an increasing awareness of the importance of re­cognizing signs of mental distress, with less emphasis on researchers exploring this issue within occupational contexts. Employees may notice that their collea­gues are experiencing mental distress stemming from challenging circumstances or unmanageable work demands, or from other areas such as family situations. In our study, we aimed to investigate how various factors (age, gender, tenure, work on location or remotely, overall connectedness, behavioural and affective characteristics of informal interactions) contribute to the self-perceived ability to recognize mental distress in colleagues. Our sample consisted of 296 actively employed individuals, including 243 women and 53 men, with an average age of 43.56 years.

We found a notable association between individuals’ self-assessment of their ca­pability to recognize mental distress in colleagues and the level of interconnec­tedness among colleagues, as well as with informal interactions. Our research highlights the importance of workplace connectedness and informal interactions. We emphasize the significance of fostering a supportive environment in organi­zations. In conclusion, we provide some recommendations on how organizations can create a supportive environment for their employees and potentially enhance their psychological well-being (e.g., conducting team-building workshops).