BT's customers often bang their heads against the wall in frustration over unfathomable phone charges and lost broadband links, but the stress of working for the telecommunications giant appears to cause mental breakdown as well.

A press release issued today reveals that 500 BT staff are off sick every day with psychiatric problems, an alarming figure that has prompted the carrier to launch a major programme designed to tackle problems such as anxiety and depression amongst its workforce.

To be fair, BT employs around 104,000 people worldwide and deserves credit for working in tandem with the Communication Workers Union, Connect and various mental health charities to educate its employees on how to avoid mental health problems.

The carrier will even pay for counselling in extreme cases, though how this compares to the potential cost of so many lost man hours or a few hefty compensation payments to unhappy employees is anybody's guess.

So next time you're hanging on the BT customer support line trying to sort out your latest bout of communications chaos, remember that the person on the other end of the line may have problems too.