Problems related to workplace well-being are also growing in Puglia. It is the ninth region in Italy for work stress. This is underlined by research from the Unobravo portal: requests for support for work-related problems have grown by 100 percent – therefore they have doubled – compared to the previous year.
In 2023, the people in Puglia who showed psychological distress on the work front increased by 128.3 percent compared to the previous year and the trend is also being confirmed for this year: in the first four months of 2024, in fact, a growth of 100.6 percent compared to the same period in 2023, with over a quarter (28.1 percent) of Apulian respondents finding themselves facing work-related problems and seeking psychological support for this.
Further deepening the analysis on the individual region, the data collected by Unobravo show how at a provincial level the majority of those who declare they have psychological problems related to the work sphere are concentrated in the province of Bari (38.8 percent), followed by Lecce (17.1 percent), Taranto (13.8 percent), Foggia (11.4 percent), Brindisi (10.2 percent) and Barletta-Andria-Trani (8.7 percent) .
It is above all women who seek psychological support for work-related problems, which alone represent 64.1 percent of the total, while the remaining 35.9 percent is made up of men. The data is aligned with the national average (66.3 percent against 33.7 percent), as is the evidence relating to age groups: even in Puglia, those who are most affected are those who are in the first phase of their professional career: 66.5 percent are between 25 and 34 years old, while 19.1 percent are between 35 and 44 years old. The 45-60, 18-24 and over 60 age groups were all below 8 percent.
“The situation in Puglia shows a worrying picture, which also confirms the national trend. More and more people complain of work-related psychological discomfort, which, if left untreated, can lead to physical symptoms and serious conditions that negatively impact and interfere with people’s lives, such as burnout syndrome – explains the doctor Valeria Fiorenza Perris, psychotherapist and clinical director of Unobravo – The syndrome develops in four phases: enthusiasm and unrealistic expectations, stagnation, frustration and apathy. Recognizing them as soon as possible is essential to request, in time and before the syndrome has a serious impact on one’s life, the intervention and support of a psychologist or psychotherapist, figures who can help re-establish a balance between private life and the professional one”.
