Creating a Better World: Towards Better Management of Distress and Trauma in the Workplace

Abstract

Emotional distress is a common occurrence in workplaces, with up to a third of the working population suffering from poor psychological health. With the emergence of the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic, concerns surrounding psychological health in the workplace are particularly relevant. The effects of the pandemic have been felt widely across society, and have significantly changed the ways that people engage in their work. While much of the current research on workplace distress focuses on the causes and consequences of distress, little research investigates this process in “ordinary” workplaces, many of which were hit hardest by the pandemic. To consider this topic, we have assembled a panel of scholars who study distress and well-being within organizations. Together, these panelists will shed light on distress in the context of ordinary workplaces, as well as how suffering emerges in organizational contexts, and the types of behaviours that employees engage in to recognize, make sense of, and communicate about their own and others’ distress