Absenteeism and stress-related depression

WELL done to Terry Prone for highlighting the issue of work-related stress and the need to tackle it (October 8).

Ms Prone has (perhaps inadvertently) underscored the stigma associated with the absenteeism of which she writes by using the generally accepted term for the condition as “stress”.

Bearing in mind some levels of stress are not only acceptable in life generally but in many instances are beneficial to ensuring positive outcomes, it seems to me the issue that leads to lengthy absences from work, and the appointment of people to “acting” positions is, in fact, stress-related depression.

While Ms Prone correctly pointed to poor recruitment and personality clashes as two possible reasons for stress-related depression, she might also have mentioned the ongoing requirement for higher productivity with existing resources, increasingly demanding deadlines and unrealistic expectations.

However, stress-related depression which leads to work absences often has multiple causes. These lie both in the workplace and the demands of everyday life. Accordingly, Ms Prone’s assertion that “stress which has someone away from work is the medically-validated cover for an organisational failure” is wide of the mark.

Ronald Devlin

13 Fairfield Rd

Glasnevin

Dublin 9