Mental health of ad industry lower than national average

Mariam Cheik-Hussein
By Mariam Cheik-Hussein | 4 December 2018
 

People within the media, marketing and creative industry show greater signs of mental illness compared to the national average, according to the new report Mentally Healthy released today.

The finding comes from the first major study into the mental health within the media, marketing and creative sector.

The report, which surveyed more than 1,800 people, found 56% of respondents showed mild to severe symptoms of depression compared to the national average of 36%.

Additionally, the rate of anxiety across the industry is 29% higher than the rest of Australia.

The report also found that within the industry creatives suffer a higher a rate of mental health symptoms. 61% showed signs of depression compared to 53% in marketing and 46% in media.

Mentally Healthy

Mentally Healthy results

Mentally Healthy anxiety

Mentally Healthy results

The Mentally Healthy report was conducted by UnLtd, Everymind and creative agency Never Not Creative. The research was carried out by Dr Ross Tynan and Dr Renate Thienel.

A majority of the respondents were women, nearly half were aged between 25-34 and worked in an organisation with 50 employees or more.

Speaking at the launch event in Sydney, Never Not Creative founder and CEO Andy Wright said it was important to gather the data to help tackle the issue.

“Intuitively, we all knew there was a problem,” Wright said.

“Now that we know the issues, we'll be identifying the right solutions to help make our industry more mentally healthy.”

Mentally healthy Stigma

Mentally Healthy results

Mentally healthy balance

Mentally Healthy results

Everymind director Jaelea Skehan said a major part of fixing the issue involves introducing personalised solutions.

“To best target and tailor workplace mental health approaches for the greatest impact, it is critical to understand the specific stressors, risk factors and opportunities for intervention that are appropriate for the industries,” Skehan said.

“People often want to do something about mental health at work but it is critical they focus on doing the most effective things for the specific industry.”

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