The mental health of company employees has deteriorated significantly since fiscal 1996, with anxiety and obsessive behavior on the rise, according to a survey conducted by a private research institute.

With the current gloomy corporate climate, the results appear to reflect the pressures faced by workers in such an unstable environment.

Survey organizer Susumu Oda said if this scenario remains intact, workers' health will suffer greatly.

He noted that more than 30,000 people in Japan have committed suicide in each of the past three years.

Around 100,000 company employees were polled in the survey, which is conducted annually by the mental health research institute of the Japan Productivity Center for Socioeconomic Development. The results of the survey conducted in fiscal 1996 were compared and analyzed with those gathered from the fiscal 2000 survey.

The comparison was carried out on the basis of 29 categories, including hope for the future, anxiety and confidence.

The mental state of men was found to have deteriorated in 19 categories, while that of women was found to have worsened in 20.

The level of confidence and optimism in men had greatly decreased, with male workers found to be susceptible to fatigue and sickness, according to the results.

Women meanwhile were found to display a strong tendency toward alcohol dependency.