The invisible harms of remote work for mental health AdobeStock A study with 568 thousand people associates working from home with longer periods of social isolation and increased psychological suffering. Effects, researchers warn, may go unnoticed for years. Desired by many professionals, remote work significantly increases isolation and worsens mental health, especially for those who live alone. Workers, however, may be slow to realize the consequences for their well-being, as they take time to manifest themselves. The conclusion is from new research carried out in the United States and published in the scientific journal Science, which investigated in depth the impacts of this type of work on mental health. Working from home "increases time spent alone, worsens mental well-being, according to multiple indicators, and increases the use of mental health services and prescriptions," wrote the authors from Harvard and Virginia Universities in the United States and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The adoption of remote work has become widespread during the Covid-19 pandemic. In the United States, it went from 7% in 2019 to 28% in 2023. Now on g1 The study was based on data from a survey of 568,000 people and covered the period from 2011 to 2024, excluding 2020 and 2021, the peak years of the pandemic. During the years analyzed, there was a general increase in psychological distress, and the analysis suggests that "remote work accounts for approximately one-third of this increase", indicate the authors. Social isolation increased among those working from home On weekdays before the pandemic, people spent an average of 5.4 hours awake alone. Then, those who worked remotely began to increase this time alone by just over an hour. The increase in isolation is more pronounced among those who live alone, whose probability of spending the entire day without social contact increased by 7 percentage points (83%), according to the study. In the period from 2022 to 2024, those who lived alone spent 45.9% of their working days at home completely alone and 31.1% without any social contact. At the same time, psychological distress increased, being approximately twice as high among people who lived alone compared to those who lived with their families. Greater isolation was not significantly offset by greater socialization outside of work hours, as the work environment is an important source of connection. The study cites a 2022 survey that found adults were more likely to make friends at work than at religious places, in the neighborhood, at clubs or at their children's schools. More depression, more antidepressants Other consequences of psychological distress, such as frequency of depression, use of mental health services, and antidepressant prescriptions, "show similar increasing trends." People who worked remotely were 4.6% more likely to see a mental health professional than those who worked in person. The study rules out the hypothesis that remote work has offered more flexibility to seek medical care during working hours, as physical exams and routine appointments have not increased; on the contrary, they decreased. Additionally, workers began taking relatively more prescription medications for mental disorders, with a 1.8% increase in prescriptions for depression and/or anxiety, while the use of non-mental health medications, such as statins for high cholesterol, did not increase. Still, home office remains popular However, the Science study itself highlights that the majority of workers say they like remote work. A 2024 survey indicated that 24% considered full-time home working ideal, with many even "willing to accept a 4% to 10% salary reduction in exchange for the option to work remotely," the study states. However, the authors warn that these professionals may not be aware of the consequences on their well-being, which may take time to manifest. Among the limitations of the study, the researchers point out that, as the data only goes up to 2024, it is not possible to fully capture long-term adaptations among workers, such as the development of social networks outside of work, and their impacts.