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Always Connected, Rarely at Rest: A Global Mental-Health Conversation
At nine o'clock at night, a work message arrives. In Sydney it might be ignored legally. In Paris, the employer may have agreed to rules about it. In Kuala Lumpur or Manchester, many people will reply before they have finished reading it.
The technology is the same everywhere. How people live with it is not.
In short, depression and anxiety cost an estimated 12 billion working days each year worldwide. Several countries now give workers a legal "right to disconnect" outside working hours. For practitioners in every country, constant connection is now part of the context to assess, but what it means depends on the client's culture, work and family.
The Global Picture
In 2022 the World Health Organization and the International Labour Organization estimated that 12 billion working days are lost every year to depression and anxiety, costing the global economy nearly US$1 trillion. WHO also reported that 15% of working-age adults experienced a mental disorder in 2019.
These figures predate much of the current conversation about always-on work. They describe a problem that was already large before many people's working day stopped having a clear end.
How Countries Are Responding
Some governments have started to legislate:
Country | What changed | When |
France | Larger employers must agree to rules on workers' right to disconnect | 2017 |
Australia | Employees can refuse unreasonable contact outside working hours. | August 2024 (small businesses from August 2025) |
Others | More than a dozen countries, mostly in Europe and South America, have introduced some form of right to disconnect. | Various |
The Same Message, Different Meanings
Law is only part of the story. Culture shapes what an unanswered message means. In some workplaces, a reply the next morning is a healthy boundary. In others, it can read as disrespect to a senior colleague. Family group chats can bring a whole extended family's expectations into every evening.
This is why "just switch off" is rarely enough as advice. It assumes the client has permission, from their manager, their family and themselves.
What Practitioners Everywhere Can Contribute
Wherever they practise, clinical hypnotherapists and integrative psychotherapists can:
• Assess the digital context directly, including when the working day ends, if it does.
• Ask what disconnecting would cost the client, socially, professionally and in their family, rather than assuming it is a simple choice.
• Teach regulation skills such as self-hypnosis that work in the moments when disconnecting isn't possible.
• Model good boundaries in their own practice, including how and when clients can contact them.
Join the Conversation
IACHIP brings together practitioners from many countries, and that range of experience is our strength. We are gathering members' observations about how always-on life is showing up in practice in different parts of the world.
Members: share what you are seeing on our social channels or by email. Looking for a practitioner? Find an IACHIP therapist.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How many working days are lost to depression and anxiety?
The WHO and ILO estimate 12 billion working days are lost each year, costing the global economy nearly US$1 trillion.
Which countries have a right to disconnect?
France introduced one in 2017 and Australia in 2024. More than a dozen countries, mostly in Europe and South America, have some form of it.
Does constant connection affect mental health?
It can keep the body's stress response active and reduce recovery time, but its impact depends on workload, culture and personal circumstances.
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