Every Sunday evening, Kunle's chest tightens. By 8 PM, the anxiety is in full force with a racing heart, shallow breathing, and a knot in his stomach. He can't sleep. He lies awake dreading Monday morning, replaying his boss's criticisms, anticipating this week's impossible demands and inevitable humiliations. On Monday mornings, he drags himself to the office feeling nauseated. He works in a constant state of hypervigilance, waiting for the next public dressing-down, the next unreasonable deadline, the next reminder that he's replaceable and should be "grateful to even have a job in this economy". He developed high blood pressure at 32, and he is on antidepressants. His relationship is suffering because he's irritable and emotionally unavailable. He fantasises about quitting but can't afford to, as he has family depending on him, bills to pay, and limited job options.

Adaeze is a 34-year-old woman who worked at a mid-size company in Lagos. Her boss was a verbally abusive tyrant who fired people on a whim and rehired them when he was in a better mood. Adaeze developed severe anxiety. She couldn't eat breakfast because she'd vomit from stress. Sunday evenings were torture with panic attacks, but she stayed because she earned well and needed to support her family. After three years, she had a complete breakdown and was hospitalised for stress-related illnesses and diagnosed with depression and anxiety.

Umar is a Resident Doctor with a verbally abusive Consultant who calls them names and frequently insults even their parents for any mistake. He was on call and had just finished sorting out three cases in the Emergency Room at 9 pm. He suddenly realised that he had not eaten at all, as he had been on his feet all day since 7.30 am. Suddenly, his phone rang, and it was his Consultant. ‘Useless human being, why have you not sent in the case report I asked you to prepare this morning during the round? He thundered. Efforts to explain that it has been a busy call since completing post-round duties were shut down with insults, and then a threat to give him extra calls if he didn’t submit by midnight. Yes, Sir, he mumbled, as he hung up. He suddenly felt overwhelmingly tired and sat alone on the corridor steps as hot tears welled in his eyes.

Many employees struggle at their workplace due to an unhealthy psychosocial working environment. 28th April is the World Day for Safety and Health at Work. The 2026 theme for the World Day for Safety and Health at Work is Ensuring a Healthy Psychosocial Working Environment. This theme highlights the unhealthy environments in many workplaces and how they influence employee well-being.

Discussion

The psychosocial working environment refers to all the psychological and social factors that impact employee health and performance. Core elements of a good psychosocial working environment are healthy workload design, job control and autonomy, supportive leadership, psychological safety, fair treatment and inclusion. A good psychosocial working environment is shaped by human leadership and workplace systems.

Common Toxic Occurrences in Workplaces

• Authoritarian and abusive leadership: Some bosses treat employees as servants through public humiliation, verbal abuse, and degradation.
• Extreme overwork culture: Leave days are discouraged or denied in some cases, sick days are treated as weaknesses, and working overtime without pay is a regular expectation.
• Job insecurity and exploitation: Often, employees in some organisations work without an employment contract or outside the scope of their contract, get constant reminders of being replaceable, and receive threats of firing for minor infractions.
• Unpaid and underpaid labour: Wage theft such as salaries delayed for months, unpaid overtime expected, low wages justified by the need to gain experience, and unexplained deductions.
• Harassment and discrimination: Many employees experience harassment and discrimination in different forms. This could be gender, ethnic, religious, age, or appearance-based discrimination. It could also be sexual harassment.
• No support or resources

Mental Health Impact of an Unhealthy Psychosocial Working Environment

• Chronic anxiety and hypervigilance
• Suicidal thoughts
• Depression and low self-esteem
• Trauma
• Learned helplessness
• Compensatory drug abuse
• Resentment and bitterness
• Chronic exhaustion and burnout

Practical strategies for organisations to improve the psychosocial working environment:

• Perform routine psychosocial risk and working environment assessments
• Set clear workplace policies and systems, including work hours and leave
• Monitor and improve using feedback
• Establishing transparent communication around monitoring systems and data use
• Training managers in empathetic leadership and mental health awareness
• Providing employee support and resources
• Ensuring job security and fair compensation
• Implementing flexible work structures that protect work-life boundaries

Individual strategies to protect yourself in an organisation with an unhealthy working environment

• Know your rights as stipulated in the Nigerian Labour Act provisions, your employment contract terms, company policies, and/or industry standards.
• Set boundaries where possible, and communicate them clearly
• Build a support system inside and outside the workplace
• Protect your mental health
• Plan your exit, if all else fails