More than nine in 10 teachers feel their job has adversely affected their mental health, according to a new survey by the NASUWT teaching union.
Of those surveyed, 16 per cent said they had undergone counselling, while 13 per cent said they have begun using or increased their use of antidepressants.
7 per cent said they had increased their use of prescription drugs.
Of the nearly 12,000 teachers and headteachers surveyed, the union found that 91 per cent feel their job has adversely impacted their mental health in the last 12 months and 64 per cent said it had affected their physical health.
The union has released the findings today to mark Workers’ Memorial Day and highlight the “significant toll” it says “the failure of employers and governments to value teachers and provide them with safe and healthy working conditions” has had on teaching staff.
Almost nine in ten (87 per cent) respondents said they had experienced anxiousness in the last year and 81 per cent a loss of sleep, due to their work.
3 per cent of respondents reported self-harming because of work-related pressures.
Workload main factor
Workload was cited as the main factor but other factors contributed.
Over half (52 per cent) of respondents said workload was the main factor for increased work-related stress, while over a third (34 per cent) cited the consequences of the pandemic.
Some 24 per cent said worries about pupil behaviour and pupil wellbeing were a factor, 22 per cent said pupil academic performance.
Over one in 10 (11 per cent) cited finances as a factor for work-related stress.
Teachers do not feel supported
Over six in ten (66 per cent) of respondents said that their school did not have measures in place to monitor and manage stress and burnout, and over half (53 per cent) disagreed or strongly disagreed that their school prioritises staff mental health.
Impact of pandemic still being felt
Almost three quarters (72 per cent) said that organising remote learning has been the major pandemic contributor to adverse mental health.
NASUWT also said that teachers are continuing to “face the impact of the pandemic”, with many teachers contracting Covid multiple times and “workplaces with few, if any, Covid safety measures in place and no access to free tests”.
Earlier this month, data released by the Office for National Statistics revealed that the teaching and education sector was continuing to experience high numbers of long Covid in the workforce and was the sector with the second-highest prevalence of the disease.
The data estimates that over 4 per cent (4.17) of the sector are experiencing symptoms of long Covid.
Teachers experiencing ’excessive’ and ‘crushing’ workloads
Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, said that delivering “world-class education” means schools must be “world-class workplaces too”.
But Dr Roach said that for “too many teachers”, this was “far from the reality”.
“Excessive and often crushing workloads are making teachers physically and mentally ill, with some teachers telling us they are even experiencing panic attacks and symptoms of PTSD,” he said.
Dr Roach said the pandemic had further increased the risks to teachers’ mental and physical welfare.
He added that the government had ”slashed funding and powers for watchdogs...meaning that, during the last two years, when workers needed them more than ever, they have been missing in action”.
“No one should be made ill or have their life put at risk from simply going to work, yet this is precisely what tens of thousands of teachers are facing each day.
He said that teachers deserve a “better deal on their safety and welfare”.
