The psychiatrist said that 80% of patients working in the European Commission were bullied

About 80% of Brussels psychiatrist Thomas Van der Poorten's patients working for the European Commission come to him after some form of workplace bullying, Politico reports.

“The EU institutions are not bystanders to the mental health crisis in the workplace in Europe; they themselves seem to be actively contributing to it,” Van der Poorten, who heads the Belgian Federation of Ambulatory Psychiatry, told the publication.

He estimates that about 80% of his patients working for the European Commission have experienced some form of workplace bullying. A psychiatrist says EU institutions must lead by example in providing mental health care to staff, given the harm he says "toxic managers" cause.

Van der Poorten also drew attention to the insufficient, in his opinion, reimbursement of expenses for mental health care for employees of EU institutions. Their JSIS health insurance system reimburses around 60 euros per session, while private psychiatrists can cost significantly more.

“This is not enough,” Nicolas Mavraganis, president of the Union Syndicale Fédérale, the president of the EU staff union, told Politico, who confirmed the high number of employees reporting bullying.