Workplace Environment and Mental Health
Workplaces have the capacity to make people or workers suffer from mental health problems depending on the nature of the environment. People are unique and require the freedom to make independent choices. Also, workplace environment is at times unfriendly for the workers because of injustice and inequality that is experienced by workers because of their diversity (Dimoff and Kelloway, 203).
The Impact on Workers
The article, "Bridging the Gap: Mental health in the workplace Canadian research" talks about how issues at the workplace lead to mental health problems among workers (Dimoff and Kelloway, 203). The article talks about the issue of individual workers suffering from mood disorders and anxiety resulting from being forced to perform according to the rules and regulations at the workplace, therefore not gaining the fulfillment of their personal needs (Dimoff and Kelloway, 203).
Comparing the Story and the Article
The story "Bartleby, The Scrivener: A Story of Wall-street" by Melville Herman explores those things that make people manage to make complex decisions even about simple issues (Dechêne, 193). This paper seeks to compare the story and the article. The paper explores the issue of independence and the ability of an individual to make personal choices while living among other people. Although workers are supposed to work together, "Bartleby, The Scrivener: A Story of Wall-street" and "Bridging the Gap: Mental health in the workplace Canadian research" prove that poor workplace conditions lead to workers' suffering from mental health problems.
The Story by Melville
The story by Melville is set in an overwrought workplace. The story proves that the workplace environment is not always a friendly place because workers experience issues concerning injustice and inequality (Dechêne, 194). Also, the story shows that workers might suffer from mental health problems because of the work-oriented surroundings which are not friendly to the community. At the workplace, workers suffer from mental health because of occupational health problems. One of the story's themes is disconnected workplace and alienation (Dechêne, 194). The story explores how employees tend to isolate themselves from the workplace environment because of the harshness and problems faced when relating to each other at the workplace. Also, workers become self-estranged because when interacting with workers who have diversity, some employees feel unsafe.
The Article by Dimoff and Kelloway
Similarly, the article by Dimoff and Kelloway researches about workplace mental health and the necessity for investing in the provision of mental health care to all employees (Dimoff and Kelloway, 204). The article identifies how workers feel isolated while in the workplace because of personal problems that they think have not been met by their employers. Besides, work-life balance affects the decision-making process of workers, and because of feeling anxious, they tend to suffer from mental health problems. According to the article, because of rules and regulations that workers are supposed to observe when engaging in their duties, the capacity of workers to freely make decisions is compromised and leads to people's suffering from mental health issues (Dimoff and Kelloway, 206). Also, as workers are delegated duties and roles to play, they experience burnout and stress, especially for being overworked or when they are subjected to harsh working environments.
The Story by Melville - Impact on Mental Health
In the story, Melville is concerned about the decisions that workers make based on their independent thought, which tend to be dangerous and likely to lead to severe consequences (Dechêne, 196). Office tasks make workers feel isolated from their normal life because of the trend followed in performing their duties. The monotony, which is associated with the conduct of the same task every day, makes workers feel shocked and develop boredom, whereby developing anxiety. It is true that Bartleby starves to death because of the need to stay in the office and not doing any work. This makes him be in a bad mood because of the feeling of being disconnected from normal life. The story also claims that workers in the office experience mental health problems because of working in the same place, where they only stare at the window and the wall, especially when they do not have some tasks to complete (Dechêne, 198).
Working in Offices
Working in offices, as identified in the story, makes workers develop the feeling of having been in cells. Because of remaining indoors and not moving out of the office, workers feel anxious, as they are subjected to the same tasks and are not allowed to exercise the freedom of making personal choices. The article proves that poor working conditions and the need for employees to adhere to the set rules and regulations make them feel to have been isolated and threatened from engaging in connections with each other (Dimoff and Kelloway, 207). Melville, similarly with Dimoff and Kelloway, conducted their research and realized that if workers are given an opportunity to live an independent life and make personal decisions, this would enable them to remain safe and determined to conduct their tasks (Dechêne, 201). Because of anxiety disorders, workers perform poorly at the workplace. Therefore, employers are supposed to invest in the provision of mental health care to their workers, as this would enable them to perform accordingly and conduct their duties in good health and well-being. Indeed, working in an office does not offer a chance for workers to engage in a collaborative environment because they do not get a chance to interact with other people.
Conclusion
In conclusion, because of being required to work in stressful workplaces, employees develop stress and anxiety among other mental health problems. The story and the article ("Bartleby, The Scrivener: A Story of Wall-street" and "Bridging the Gap: Mental health in the workplace Canadian research") identify how employees develop mental health conditions because of being subjected to strained workplaces where they lack the freedom to make personal decisions. Also, the two pieces emphasize how workplace environment makes individuals fail to balance between life and work. It is evident from the story and the article that workers are typically subjected to undeniable inequality or injustice in their workplaces where they are treated like prisoners. In general, the story and the article equally emphasize how workers suffer from mental health problems because of the situation and nature of the workplace environment.
Work Cited
Dechêne, Antoine. "Herman Melville’s “Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street." Detective Fiction and the Problem of Knowledge. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2018. 193-218.
Dimoff, Jennifer K., and E. Kevin Kelloway. "Bridging the gap: Workplace mental health research in Canada." Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne 54.4 (2013): 203.
