Guardian research suggests mental health crisis among aid workers | Global Development Professionals Network | The Guardian

Guardian research suggests mental health crisis among aid workers | Global Development Professionals Network | The Guardian: "A worryingly high proportion of aid workers have experienced mental health issues, exclusive findings from the Guardian can reveal.

79% of the 754 respondents to the mental health and wellbeing survey on the Global Development Professional Network stated that they had experienced mental health issues. The overwhelming majority, 93%, believe these to have been related to their work in the aid industry.

Over three quarters of those that took the survey were female and the majority of participants identified as international staff working at an international NGO.

The findings raise fresh concerns over the wellbeing of staff in the profession, and lends further weight to the arguments of a small but growing number of figures questioning the quality of support and protection provided by humanitarian organisations. “This is a huge, hidden and important issue,” said one anonymous contributor to the survey.

Over half of contributors said they had experienced or been diagnosed with anxiety, and 44% with depression. Panic attacks and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were also cited among over a fifth. While there was little gender differentiation for these results, men were almost twice as likely to cite alcoholism than women."



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