Mental Health Problems in the Workplace

Abstract

Mental health problems will be a common feature within the workplace, as it is estimated that one person in six is likely to experience a mental health problem (Department of Health, 2006). Research has shown that it is not necessarily having a mental health problem which is problematic; it is how people respond to those who experience mental health problems which is dependent upon how successful they are at gaining and maintaining employment (Curran et al., 2007; Hayton, 2002; Secker, Grove and Seebohm, 2001). In the United States it is suggested that between 55 per cent and 75 per cent of people who experience serious mental health problems can find, and keep, employment (Secker and Membrey, 2003). Anyone can experience mental health problems at any age. Mental health problems range, for example, from ‘mild’ forms of depression or anxiety that may be linked to loss or bereavement to more severe forms of disorder that could have devastating consequences for an individual, leading to added problems, such as loss of employment, housing problems or relationship breakdown that in turn could lead to further worsening of mental health (Social Exclusion Unit, 2004). Within the British context, Beddington and colleagues (2008) suggest that about 16 per cent of adults experience a common mental health problem, such as depression, and that the average annual economic cost of mental health problems in England alone is about £36 billion.