Mental Health in the Workplace

Abstract

Mental health disorders can have a serious impact on workers’ well-being and job success.

In the past, workers with mental health disorders hid their disabilities or faced stigmatization by employers and coworkers. Fortunately, increased workplace attention to these concerns has surfaced, although ways to identify and prevent the consequences of mental illness lag behind the public’s awareness of and readiness to grapple with physical illness and injuries.

The list of mental health diagnoses is long, but some examples include depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety—often associated with phobias and posttraumatic stress disorder—and, more recently, recognized conditions like autism spectrum disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). These mental health concerns often go unaddressed in the workplace.

Although occupational health nurses’ primary concern is the health and well-being of workers, some outcomes (e.g., absenteeism, decreased productivity, safety concerns, and increased health care and disability costs) also affect organizations. Presenteeism—working but not fully functional due to impaired physical or mental health—produces indirect costs (Callander, Lindsay, & Scuffham, 2017). For example, when a worker experiences mental illness, coworkers may be affected by increased workload, safety factors, and disruptions in social interactions.

Depression, a prevalent mental disorder, typically occurs in early or midlife, corresponding to the age distribution of the workforce. Depression is common among workers with chronic diseases and is more prevalent among women (National Institute of Mental Health, 2017). Other mental health disorders vary by age of onset and demographic characteristics, but most affect workers’ quality of life and have the potential to damage workers’ chances of successful employment. For instance, ADHD is often first recognized in children, but the symptoms can persist into older ages when productivity can be affected by distractibility, forgetfulness, and difficulty following instructions. Workers with ADHD sometimes have lower job satisfaction, change jobs frequently, and become unemployed (Fried et al., 2012).

Although most mental health disorders are treatable, the first step is for workers to seek care. One mental health study showed that 60% of adults had not received care in the previous year (National Alliance on Mental Illness, n.d.) because they could not identify resources, pay for care, or find time or resources for treatment; they also had concerns about confidentiality and job retention. The occupational health nurse can intervene by identifying lower cost resources, advocating for privacy and job retention, and encouraging workers to seek treatment.

Work stress is associated with higher job demands and concurrent lower control over the way work is performed. Social support can be powerful in reducing stress that occurs under these conditions. By encouraging social support from supervisors and coworkers, occupational health nurses can prevent workplace stress and its influence on mental health.

Unfortunately, health benefits often do not cover mental health care. Occupational health nurses can develop a business case for treating mental health disorders to improve productivity and company profit. One successful model is integrated physical-behavioral health care, which links mental health and primary care in a holistic, interdisciplinary system (National Institute of Mental Health, 2017).

An initiative geared to addressing mental health issues in the workplace is the Luv U Project, established by the family of Carolyn C. Mattingly. The Luv U Project, in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, establish a center of excellence intended to improve mental health in the workplace by developing resources, promoting applied research, sharing best practices, and providing policy guidance. Occupational health nurses can follow the activities of the Luv U Project at https://theluvuproject.org/initiatives/johns-hopkins.