How Workplace Harassment Can Impact Mental Health

Posted by Sessions & Kimball |

Whether a career-oriented California employee loves their job and has objectives for advancing in their business, or simply works hard every day to support themselves and their family, all employees have a right to a safe work environment that is free from harassment. Unfortunately, workplace harassment remains more common than most people would like to think, including in California, which has robust protections for employees under the Civil Rights Act and California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).

Suffering harassment in the workplace is shocking and demoralizing when it occurs, but many employees also discover distressing long-term effects on mental health and overall well-being. So, how does harassment impact emotional well-being and mental health, and how do you prove these damages in a workplace harassment claim in California?

What Constitutes Harassment in the Workplace?

In the workplace, the term “harassment” encompasses a broad range of unpleasant or unwelcome behaviors, including verbal, written, and visual forms of harassment, as well as physical misconduct. Harassment may target a specific employee or a class of employees. Harassment may stem from an employer or supervisor to an employee or from one employee against another. Examples of workplace harassment include the following:

  • Sexual harassment
  • Verbal or psychological harassment, such as yelling, name-calling, intimidation, threats, or offensive jokes
  • Bullying
  • Physical harassment, such as assaults or physically blocking or cornering 
  • Visual harassment, such as making intimidating signs or hanging sexually provocative or offensive posters
  • Racial slurs or making racial jokes
  • Making age-related comments or jokes
  • Using gender-based slurs, or slurs based on an individual’s sexual preference or gender identity
  • Abuse of authority or power-based harassment
  • Quid-pro-quo, or conditioning job advancement on specific behaviors, often sexual favors
  • Online harassment through emails or social media
  • Retaliatory harassment
  • Intentional exclusion from meetings and educational opportunities
  • Sabotaging an employee’s work
  • Spreading rumors

Harassment is typically a manifestation of discriminatory behaviors based on race, religion, sex, sexuality, age, or pregnancy. Workplace harassment not only adversely impacts job performance and productivity, but it also has a substantial effect on the harassment victim’s mental health, especially after long-term exposure. According to a disturbing Gallup poll, 23% of surveyed employees report experiencing harassment at work. Harassment creates a hostile work environment and violates an employee’s rights.

The Mental Health Impacts of Enduring Workplace Harassment

Mental health experts describe workplace harassment as follows:

“Behaviors that provoke, intimidate, and cause severe discomfort to the employee,” and “…repeated, negative behavior from a supervisor, subordinate, or co-worker over an extended period of time, resulting in humiliation, physical and psychological distress.”

Persistent workplace harassment results in mental health impacts such as the following:

  • Symptoms of psychological distress, including depression, anxiety, panic attacks, hyper-vigilance, suicidal thoughts, or emotional numbness
  • Trauma symptoms, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), intrusive thoughts, and social isolation
  • Sleep disturbances, such as insomnia, nightmares, nightwalking, vivid dreams, and sleep paralysis
  • Social and cognitive difficulties, such as withdrawal, isolation, loss of confidence, and relationship problems
  • Physical manifestations of distress, such as headaches, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, slowed speech, gastrointestinal problems, and muscle tension

Victims of workplace harassment describe feelings of intense dread when going to work and an inability to relax during off-duty hours. Persistent harassment creates a hostile work environment, which violates both federal and state employee protection laws.

Harassed employees often report immediate adverse impacts, such as anxiety, fear, and depression, and reluctance to go to work. Psychology Today reports a 20% decrease in work productivity among harassment victims.

In addition to short-term adverse effects, a clinical study on long-term emotional impacts of both general and sexual harassment at work revealed that victims of sexual or general harassment are more prone to the following:

  • Alcohol or drug abuse disorder
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Increased hostility
  • Negative career outcomes
  • Self-isolation or social withdrawal

The study followed victims of harassment who required legal services. Participants were surveyed for years following their cases. Researchers collected data based on the victims’ use of professional and spiritual services such as psychological counseling, individual and group therapies, and spiritual counseling through clergy. According to the study, these mental health impacts persisted even after the study adjusted for the participants’ current work-related stressors.

What Should I Do If I’m Experiencing Workplace Harassment and Adverse Mental Health Impacts?

First, seek help from a mental health professional, such as a therapist, trauma counselor, or psychologist. Then, take the following actions:

  • Report the harassment to an immediate supervisor and your company’s HR department, or file grievance procedures if the process is included in your employee’s handbook
  • Document all instances of harassment, including dates, times, and the details of each interaction
  • Keep copies of all emails, phone messages, texts, and other written interactions that demonstrate harassment
  • Document the times and dates of your therapy sessions and follow your therapist’s advice
  • Keep copies of your therapy bills or explanations of benefits (EOBs) that show you are seeking help to learn coping strategies to manage the mental health impacts of the harassment
  • Contact an experienced California employment lawyer

Under FEHA, employees have the right to a safe work environment that’s free from harassment and hostility. Your workplace harassment attorney can represent your best interests by demanding accountability from your employer for your mental distress, obtaining compensation for your losses, and achieving an outcome that aligns with your goals.

How Do Employers Create Supportive, Harassment-Free Work Environments?

Employers should develop, train, and implement policies to identify and promptly mitigate forms of workplace harassment. Employers may also require annual training on recognizing and preventing all forms of workplace harassment. 

Employees must understand their rights, including the right to report harassment and to be free from retaliatory measures after reporting. Contact our Orange County employment lawyers for a free consultation today.