Brazil is experiencing an unprecedented mental health crisis at work. According to official data from the Ministry of Social Security, only in 2024, the National Institute of Social Security (INSS) received 472,000 requests for leave due to mental and behavioral disorders. Anxiety leads the reasons, with 141,414 cases, followed by depressive episodes (113,604).
The alert intensifies with recent data presented by the Public Ministry of Labor (MPT) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Brazil: absences related to mental health increased by 134% between 2022 and 2024. Among the main reasons are reactions to stress (28.6%), anxiety (27.4%), and recurrent depression (8.46%).
For Dr. Lilian Gontijo, a specialist in Family and Community Medicine at the Hospital das Clínicas of UFMG, also trained in Geriatrics and Gerontology, and who works with an integrative functional approach, these numbers reflect the collapse of a lifestyle model based on overexertion and disconnection from the body's real needs. "We live in a culture of hyperproductivity, with increasingly blurred boundaries between work and personal life. The human body was not made to remain in constant alertness," he/she/they states.
According to her, chronic stress manifests throughout the body: from hormonal and digestive changes to neurological and emotional symptoms. "Persistent muscle pains, sleep disturbances, irritability, palpitations, cognitive failures, low immunity, and menstrual irregularities are common signs, but often treated in isolation," he explains. "The problem is that the body is crying out on multiple fronts at the same time."
In the Integrative approach, care begins with a detailed listening, an anamnesis that assesses the patient's history, and laboratory investigations that seek evidence of inflammation, hormonal dysfunction, cortisol dysregulation, and impact on the gut microbiota. "Stress is biochemical, emotional, and behavioral at the same time. The integrative approach allows us to see these layers together and act before it turns into a chronic disease," she affirms.
Doctor Lilian emphasizes that many patients only realize they are getting sick from stress when they receive a diagnosis of something more serious — such as an autoimmune condition, metabolic syndrome, or a disabling depressive episode. These diseases don't appear out of nowhere. They are built day after day by a lifestyle that ignores subtle signals.
How to identify the signs before the body collapses?
Constant irritability, insomnia, apathy, difficulty concentrating, recurring pains, and persistent digestive changes are not just signs of fatigue — they are physiological alerts that the body is under overload. "Many people find it normal to live tired or sleep poorly, but these symptoms are just the tip of the iceberg. The body is trying to communicate that something is out of balance," explains Dr. Lilian. A feeling of "racing mind," decreased work performance, low immunity, high blood pressure, and hormonal changes also deserve attention, especially when they become frequent.
According to the doctor, when the patient seeks help at the very first signs, the chances of reversal are much higher. In Integrative Functional Medicine, we can intervene before this overload progresses to more serious illnesses. Chronic stress is silent but deeply disruptive. Recognizing the signs and acting consciously is a gesture of care—and often the beginning of a life change.
