MUMBAI | NEW DELHI: Sleepless nights , bouts of anxiety and shooting blood pressure — senior managers helming Indian companies are grappling with severe mental stress as they hold course amid a protracted economic downturn Psychiatrists and psychologists in cities now have more callers who complain about pressing work schedules, unrealistic targets and fears of losing jobs.Several studies indicate a jump in depression and anxiety-related disorders over the past six months. Take, for instance, a study conducted by Cosmos Institute of Mental Health and Behavioural Sciences (CIMBS), which shows a threefold increase in degenerating mental health among senior professionals. According to Optum, a top provider of employee-assistance programmes to companies, stress-related complaints from employees have doubled from a year earlier to 16% in 2019.“The profile of people who came up with anxiety disorders, where work-related stress or financial matters is concerned, comprised not only professionals working in organisations, but also self-employed entrepreneurs and even their spouses,” said Shobhana Mittal, a psychiatrist at CIMBS.In a majority of cases, professionals were worried about financial risk, loss of job, loss in business or financial uncertainty that triggered the anxiety disorder, said experts. In a few instances, financial loss and subsequent stress had triggered even suicidal behaviour.“Our call volume has gone significantly high,” said Amber Alam, the head of business (India) at Optum International. Counsellors and mental health experts said a large number of the calls were from sectors that were more impacted by the economic downturn, such as automobile, telecom, real estate and financial services. There is an increasing awareness among professionals to seek out counselling, they said.Promoters and CEOs of India Inc are aware of rising stress levels, but there isn’t any definitive remedy to the problem. “One has to find own ways of mitigating stress,” said Marico chairman Harsh Mariwala. “Overall, competitive environment has intensified, making it difficult for organisations to succeed on a perpetual basis. In addition to this, there is disruption and unknown competition, expectation from the capital market and private equity players adding to stress,” he said.Adding to their woes are heightened rules, regulations and scrutiny by regulators and other government agencies. The environment has become incredibly hostile for companies that are not well-governed or are facing sectoral or cyclical headwinds, said industry experts. That apart, life in big cities comes with its own set of stress. “Different people react in different way to stress. In a business context, for a senior leader, it could be if someone overpromises a performance and the economic cycle goes down then the stress can be overwhelming. In this case, the stress is more self-created. Or if the board puts an unrealistic target and the individual’s conviction is not with it, that can also lead to tremendous stress,” said Santrupt Misra, the CEO of the carbon black business at the Aditya Birla Group.However, a seasoned CEO should know that economic cycle comes and goes, advised Misra. “One must focus on factors that are controllable by the individual and the organisation. Things that you cannot control, there is no point sweating about it.” India is facing a serious mental health crisis, with an estimated 56 million people suffering from depression and 38 million from anxiety disorders, according to a report by the World Health Organization One in five employees in India Inc is said to be suffering from workplace depression. “There is high demand on CEOs to perform, coupled with a complex and uncertain environment. The job of a senior manager has become quite complex and demanding,” said Mariwala. Employers, on their part, are increasingly helping professionals deal with stress.“This (rising stress level) is largely due to unprecedented disruption in all walks of working life. There is the ‘fear of unknown’.… Employees are not sure of what the future has in store,” said Sanjev Vaid, the head of HR (wellbeing, reward & employment) at RBS India.However, at the same time, there is more openness and awareness among people to reach out to counsellors and medical practitioners. “We find the young generation open to seeking help which is very encouraging. Seeking professional help for work life issues is no longer a taboo,” said Alam from Optum.