The rise in cases of mental health disorders in the field of work is the background for the Universitas Indonesia (UI) Library to hold an international webinar with the theme “Addressing Low Morale Experience in Library and Information Workplace”. This webinar, which was attended online by more than 400 participants, was held on Wednesday (04/10) with the aim of increasing awareness about the importance of emotional, psychological, and social well-being for workers, especially librarians.
In her speech, the Head of the UI Library, Mariyah, S.Sos., M.Hum, hoped that this event can add new insights to librarians and information professionals throughout the world. This webinar presented Prof. Dr. rer. Nat. Abdul Haris, M.Sc, Vice Rector for Academic and Student Affairs at UI as the keynote speaker as well as experts in the field of psychology and mental health, namely Kaetrena Davis Kendrick, MSLS, Librarian, Researcher, Leader, Consultant & Coach from Renewals, United States and Ezra Putranto Wahyudi, M.Psi, Adult Clinical Psychologist from heal.Inc. who is an alumni of the UI Faculty of Psychology.
In her presentation on the topic “The Renewals Keynote”, Kaetrena Davis Kendric discussed low work morale and practical actions to overcome this problem. According to her, low morale in the world of work is triggered by several factors, including verbal attacks (yelling and humiliation), emotional attacks (intimidation and targeted manipulation), physical attacks, negligence, and abuse of the work system.
To overcome these various factors of work pressure, Kaetrena advised the audience to position themselves where they care about themselves and others, as well as build firm communication between individuals so that they can respect each other. Apart from that, it is also necessary to set boundaries in order to respect each other. Meanwhile, to increase work enthusiasm, it is important to do enjoyable activities such as hobbies or new interesting activities.
Each person has their own level of tolerance and way of dealing with stress. However, without knowledge of managing stress or work pressure properly, someone can unknowingly find themselves in a burnout situation. This was conveyed by Ezra Putranto Wahyudi when presenting material on the theme “Clinical Perspective on Academic Librarian Burnout: Causes, Treatment, and Addressing Neurodiversity in the Workplace”.
“Burnout is a very specific phenomenon, namely a state of mental exhaustion that occurs due to chronic stress in work situations. The main problem is fatigue. Burnout occurs when workers put in excessive effort, but the benefits received are not as great as the effort given in daily life,” said Ezra. According to him, someone who experiences burnout usually looks tired and not enthusiastic all the time.
Ezra conveyed several ways to deal with burnout that some people often feel when working, including caring for and paying more attention to themselves and setting limits for themselves by measuring their abilities. “If necessary, a person can change their work pattern to make it more comfortable. Burnout can also be reduced by seeking social support from people closest to you, using relaxation strategies, and improving your health, and physical fitness,” said Ezra.
The International Labor Organization (ILO) in 2022 estimated that around 12 billion working days are lost each year due to depression and anxiety and causes losses of nearly one trillion US dollars to the global economy. Furthermore, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported shows that of the one billion people living with mental disorders in 2019, 15 percent were adults of working age.