Mental Illness: No longer the faceless workplace affliction

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Mental illness has become one the fastest growing and costly afflictions effecting Canadians from all facets of society. And  it's not just a home grown problem. It's a workplace problem as well. That's why a major effort is under ways across the country to get a beat on managing this recognized workplace disability.
 
The reality of mental illness in the workplace and the impact-positive or negative-employers have on those who are dealing with it was the focus of this year's Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health, a group of senior business leaders and former federal finance minister Michael Wilson (whose son, Cameron, committed suicide in 1995). Speakers at a recent meeting spoke of the importance to the person and the financial benefit to the company of hanging on to and helping employees through mental illness. "We're all at risk," stated Dr John Frank, scientific director of the Institute of Population and Public Health at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. "There's not much room for stigma." Dealing with mental illness is no different than coping with any other form of disability, he added. "We're just worse at it." 
 
A far-reaching impact The word stigma means a mark indicating that something is not  normal, a mark of disgrace. Those who are stigmatized because of mental illness, or anything else, are victims of discrimination and the stigmatization not only intensifies their suffering by causing feelings of rejection and isolation but it also negatively affects treatment outcome. In a 2001 survey conducted by CMHA and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, two-thirds of respondents claimed to have suffered from depression or anxiety themselves or were close to someone who had and one-third of them said they believed other people's perceptions of them would change if they found out.
 Another report, "Mental Illnesses in Canada," states that stigma and discrimination "force people to remain quiet about their mental illnesses, often causing them to delay seeking health care, avoid following through with recommended treatment, and avoid sharing their concerns with family, friends, co-workers, employers, health service providers and others in the community." 
 
It also contained the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health's assertion that preventing discrimination against the mentally ill was a most important step toward improved mental health for Canadians.
 
Communication and flexibility are key
According to the Canadian Psychiatric Association, people with a mental illness suffer more stigmatization in the workplace than those with other disabilities, and are more likely to come up against long-term disability and under/unemployment. "Many employers and employees have unwarranted fears and see persons with psychiatric disabilities as unskilled, unproductive, unreliable, violent or unable to handle workplace pressures," says a CPA pamphlet on "Mental Illness and Work."
 But changing that environment takes time and the efforts of both employees and employers. It helps to remember that employers are better off financially, not to mention ethically investing in a valued employee by supporting him or her through treatment. That may mean making some (likely) temporary changes to working hours or work conditions but the payoff following successful treatment is a happier, healthier, more productive employee. 
   
Employers set the tone for the workplace. If reasonable accommodations are made willingly to help an employee through a difficult time, that sends a powerful and important message to the rest of the staff. And it also goes a long way to helping the employee feel supported- a great help in the treatment process. WSN