Mental health issues among employees have become a significant concern, workplace stress, long hours, unrealistic expectations, and a relentless focus on productivity are eroding employee well-being. High-profile incidents, such as the tragic case of Anna Sebastian Perayil, a young employee at Ernst & Young (EY) Pune, who died due to overwhelming work pressure, have brought the conversation around workplace mental health to the forefront. Such incidents force employers to reconsider their approaches to employee well-being and create a more supportive environment.

The Tragedy at EY: A Wake-Up Call for Employers

Anna Sebastian Perayil, a 26-year-old Chartered Accountant, joined EY in early 2024 with dreams of building a promising career. However, the immense pressure of her job quickly began to take a toll. Despite her struggles with anxiety, sleeplessness, and deteriorating physical health, she continued to push herself to meet the company’s high demands. In a letter written by her mother to EY’s leadership, it was revealed how the work environment exacerbated Anna's stress, leaving her with little room to rest and recover. She experienced chest pain, but her worries about workload and not being able to take leave overshadowed any thought of slowing down.

Her death, which sparked outrage and deep introspection across the corporate sector, underscores the urgent need for companies to reassess their work culture and its impact on employee mental health. It has highlighted the dangers of unchecked workloads, lack of managerial support, and an atmosphere where employees fear speaking up about their struggles. In response, many companies, including other "Big Four" firms are now taking steps to improve their workplace policies and culture.

Mental Health at Work: The Broader Picture

The tragic loss of life at EY is not an isolated incident. Across industries, mental health challenges are becoming more common as employees grapple with high expectations, long hours, and workplace stress. According to studies, mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, and burnout, have steadily risen over the past decade, particularly among professionals in high-pressure industries like finance, law, and technology.

Employees experiencing mental health issues often feel isolated, fearing that admitting to these challenges might be seen as a sign of weakness or incompetence. This can lead to a vicious cycle where employees push themselves beyond their limits, exacerbating their condition. Furthermore, the stigma surrounding mental health in the workplace prevents many from seeking help.

The Role of Employers in Supporting Employee Well-Being

Employers have a pivotal role to play in creating a work environment that prioritizes mental health. A supportive workplace culture not only helps employees feel valued but also improves productivity, reduces turnover, and enhances overall job satisfaction. Below are several strategies that employers can adopt to support mental health in the workplace:

Foster an Open Dialogue - Encouraging open conversations about mental health is critical to breaking the stigma associated with it. Employers should provide channels through which employees can freely discuss their mental health concerns without fear of judgment or retribution. Regular check-ins between managers and employees can help identify early signs of burnout or mental distress. Creating an environment where employees feel safe discussing their challenges is the first step toward a healthier workplace.

Implement Flexible Work Policies - Workplace flexibility is an essential tool for reducing stress. Allowing employees to choose flexible work hours, work from home, or take mental health days can help reduce burnout. Flexibility empowers employees to manage their time and workload better, balancing their personal and professional responsibilities. Especially post-pandemic, remote work or hybrid models have proven to contribute significantly to employee well-being.

Provide Access to Mental Health Resources - Employers should ensure that employees have access to mental health services. This could include offering Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs), providing access to counselors or therapists, or organizing workshops on stress management and coping mechanisms. At some firms, mental health check-ups, well-being leave, and confidential helplines have already been implemented, showing a proactive approach to employee wellness.

Promote a Healthy Work-Life Balance - Employers must actively encourage a work-life balance by setting reasonable expectations for after-hours work, limiting weekend communication, and discouraging excessive overtime. Recognizing the need for downtime allows employees to recharge, ultimately boosting their performance in the long term. Employers can take inspiration from some companies that have introduced ‘no-meeting’ days or limited meetings to particular hours of the day.

A Path Forward

The lessons from incidents like the one at EY emphasize that employee well-being must be a priority, not an afterthought. While many organizations are beginning to make changes, these reforms must be substantive and sustained over time. Token gestures will not suffice. Workplaces that actively promote mental health, provide resources, and foster an environment of open communication will not only save lives but also thrive in terms of productivity and innovation.

Employers should remember that supporting mental health is not just about responding to crises but about creating an everyday culture of wellness and respect. The ripple effects of a healthy work environment are felt throughout the organization—higher morale, stronger employee loyalty, and a better bottom line.

We have all have experienced fevers, there are many different beliefs about it in different cultures and multiple ways to treat it, ranging from modern medicine to ancient practices. When one has a fever, their body feels warm and weak, they also do not have energy to do extended movements. As fevers are a range, some being slight to others being signs of dangerous conditions, dealing with them can be tricky. Things like fever dreams, conversations and thoughts are often incoherent. There are things called fever hallucinations as well, but why does this happen?

Fever means your body temperature has gone above what's normal. But what's "normal" can be a bit different for everyone and can change based on how active you are and the time of day. Generally, a fever is when your temperature is higher than 99 degrees Fahrenheit in the early morning or above 100 degrees Fahrenheit at any other time.

Do Fevers Make Us More Irritable?

In a 2013 review published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, the researchers found that not only do fevers cause people to feel cold, weak and other bodily sensations, but the participants also expressed emotional changes, vivid dreams/hallucinations.

In one of the interview with a participant from the study, researches noted them experiencing feelings of anxiousness, crabby, angry and frustrated, “Like I said, I think fever is really tied in to how you feel emotionally. Because I know every time I have a fever, I just get snotty, for lack of a better term, because I'm just really agitated.”

“I feel tired. I feel irritable”

How Is Body Heat And Brain Health Connected?

Harvard Heath explains a part of your brain called the hypothalamus acts like a thermostat for your body. When you're healthy, it keeps your body at its usual temperature. A fever happens when the hypothalamus gets set to a higher temperature than normal. This change in the brain's thermostat is usually caused by tiny things in your blood called pyrogens.

According to a 2023 review by Yale School of Medicine heat can change things in the environment, it can also change how our brains work. In a study, researchers found that even small increases in temperature while the brain is active can really change what the brain does, and sometimes these changes can be negative.

Experts from Yale explain that changes in temperature in the brain also affect how our nerve cells (neurons) fire signals. These cells have tiny pumps that give them electrical energy, which they release when the brain is active. The researchers found that if brain cells get heated up too fast, faster than these pumps can adjust, the cells might become more active or less active than usual.

Even tiny temperature changes from brain stimulation can lead to big changes in neuron activity. As neurons get warmer, they can even stop working, and when they cool down again, they can become very easily excited.

Fever Hallucinations and other Psychological Affects

According to an Infections & Chemotherapy 2022 review, fevers can cause febrile convulsions, which is a seizure caused by a fever in young kids. It can also cause confusion, like not understanding where you are, not recognizing your surroundings. It can also cause unstable emotions, conscious and cognitive disturbances like illusions on hallucinations.

These can also be symptoms for things like influenza infections or encephalitis. Like the Yale experts explained even small temperature changes can have such a big impact on brain activity, we need to start paying attention to these small changes. He points out that it's a basic rule of physics that when you send electricity through wires to stimulate the brain, you will create heat, both in the wires and in the brain tissue itself.

Researching more on these matters can help us find better treatments and help doctors change the course of several procedures to help their patients.

Turkey has banned elective caesarean surgeries for childbirth at private hospitals and healthcare centres. "Planned Caesarean sections cannot be performed in a medical centre," said a gazette entry outlining new regulations governing private healthcare institutions in Turkey. It came as the country's president, Tyyip Recep Erdogan, has been pushing hard to have women give natural births, asserting that C Section surgeries promoted Western culture.

The move has triggered massive criticism from the opposition and right-wing organisations. "As if the country had no other problems, male football players are telling women how to give birth," Gokce Gokcen, deputy chair of the main opposition CHP, on X. Meanwhile, many human rights and women's rights organisations have also raised their voices against this new law, calling it out for restricting women's rights and liberty.

ALSO READ: After HIIT, Is Jeffing The New Go-To Cardio Workout

What Is A C-Section Birth?

C-section or caesarean birth is a surgical procedure wherein a baby is delivered through incisions made in mother's abdomen and uterus. The name caesarean comes from the Latin word "caedare" which means "to cut." Interestingly, there are rumours that link the name to Roman emperor Julius Caesar, stating that he was the first person to be born via this procedure. However, there are no records of this.

However, there are many cases where a caesarean section surgery becomes almost necessary. A doctor may order a C-section if:

• Your baby is breech, or the lower part of the body is in the birth canal instead of the head.
• Your baby is in a transverse position, or lying sideways in the birth canal.
• Your baby’s head is unusually large.
• Your baby’s heartbeat is slowing down, or there is a problem with oxygen delivery to your baby.
• You are giving birth to more than one baby. Sometimes one baby will be in an abnormal position, so all of the babies are then born via C-section.
• Your baby has a birth defect that makes vaginal delivery unsafe.
• You have umbilical cord issues.
• You have health conditions that make vaginal delivery unsafe. These include high blood pressure, HIV, open herpes lesions, or heart problems.

What Are The Complications Of Having a C-Section Surgery?

There are many complications that come with this method of delivering a child. They include:

• Reactions to the medicines used during surgery
• Bleeding
• Abnormal separation of the placenta, especially in women with previous cesarean delivery
• Injury to the bladder or bowel
• Infection in the uterus
• Wound infection
• Trouble urinating or a urinary tract infection
• Delayed return of bowel function
• Blood clots

Bottom Line

Despite the potential risks and complications, C-sections are much safer than they once were. With evolution in medical science, doctors are now taking great care to make incisions that will reduce the risk of nicks to the baby and infections to the mother. Meanwhile, the use of anaesthesia, also reduces the pain of the childbirth.

ALSO READ: Dishonesty Is 'More Than A Vice', It Could Make You Sick With

Being dishonest doesn’t come naturally to people, it is a learned virtue, whether out of necessity or pleasure. When kids lie, a lot of it stems from them not wanting to get in trouble, for example, breaking a household item or doing something they were told not to do like running around inside the house. However, when people do learn to tell lies, it can become like a go to tendency for many. It is easier to make something up rather than explaining complex truths.

According to a study published in the Psychological Science 2015, kids start lying around the age of two to three years old. Their habit then progresses rapidly, till the age of 3 and 7.

Not all lies are the same, some are really small and don't hurt anyone, like saying you like someone's new haircut even though you don't. These little white lies often just help keep things smooth and make people feel good. Then there are much bigger lies, like saying someone else did something wrong when they didn't, or lying to people about money. These kinds of lies can cause a lot of damage and have bad consequences for people's lives.

Stress Response of Lying

When we know that being dishonest could really hurt how others see us, the act of lying itself makes our bodies feel stressed. When we tell a lie, things start to happen without us even thinking about it. A 2015 review published in the Current Opinion in Psychology explains that our heart might beat faster, we might start to sweat a little and our mouth can feel really dry. These physical changes are what those old-fashioned lie-detector tests used to try and pick up on.

Some people don't feel as much empathy as others, and they might not have the usual stressed reaction when they lie. The American Psychological Association explains that some people can learn to control their bodies really well and might be able to lie and still pass a lie-detector test. On the other hand, someone who is telling the truth but is just really nervous about being tested might look like they are lying.

Gut-Brain Connection and Extreme Reactions

While it's not common, some people might have a really strong physical reaction to lying, like feeling sick to their stomach or even throwing up a lot. This shows how connected our gut and our brain are. When we feel really anxious, like when we are worried about getting caught in a lie, it can actually make our stomach feel bad. So, for someone who is constantly lying and worried about it, this anxiety could potentially lead to physical sickness.

Living a life where you are often not telling the truth can actually take a toll on your health over time, not just in the moment. Research has suggested that people who lie a lot might have problems like high blood pressure, their heart might beat faster more often, their blood vessels could get tighter, and they might have more stress hormones in their bodies on a regular basis.