scholarly journals What Could Influence Workers' Decisions to Disclose a Mental Illness at Work?

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 119-127
Author(s):  
Carolyn S Dewa ◽  
Jaap Van Weeghel ◽  
Margot CW Joosen ◽  
Evelien PM Brouwers
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
Health Issue ◽  
Mental Health Issue ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Effective Interventions ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Workplace Stigma

Background: Stigma can be a barrier for workers experiencing a mental illness to access accommodations at work. However, work accommodations may be necessary to maintain a worker's ability to work. Therefore, it may be important to develop effective interventions to address workplace stigma. Objective: To determine (1) what proportion of workers would probably disclose their mental health issue to their manager, (2) what are the motivating factors for the decision of whether or not to disclose, and (3) what would potentially change the disclosure decision? Methods: A link to a Web-based questionnaire was sent to a nationally representative sample of 1671 Dutch adults over 18 years of age. The response rate was 74%. We focused on the 892 respondents who indicated they were either employed for pay or looking for employment, not in management positions, and never experienced a mental health issue. This group comprised 73% of the total sample. They were asked if they would disclose their mental health issue to their manager. For what reasons would they disclose/not disclose the issue? And, what could change their decision? Results: We found that almost 75% of workers would disclose to their managers. The perceived relationship with their managers and feelings of responsibility to their workplaces were important contributors to the decision. A large minority of workers would not tell, preferring to deal with their issues alone. In addition, a significant proportion of workers would choose not to disclose fearing negative consequences. Conclusion: Our results indicate that the majority of these Dutch workers would disclose a mental health issue to their managers. The relationship with the manager plays a central role. The advice from a trusted individual and the experiences of colleagues are also significant factors in the disclosure decision.

scholarly journals Workers' Decisions to Disclose a Mental Health Issue to Managers and the Consequences

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn S. Dewa ◽  
Jaap van Weeghel ◽  
Margot C. W. Joosen ◽  
Petra C. Gronholm ◽  
Evelien P. M. Brouwers
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Health Issue ◽  
Mental Health Issue ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Mental Health Issues ◽  
Effective Interventions ◽  
Disclosure Decisions ◽  
Workplace Stigma

Background: Stigma can be a barrier to accessing effective interventions and work accommodations for mental illnesses. Fear of stigma's concomitant prejudice and discrimination can inhibit workers from asking for help. Thus, it may be important to develop effective interventions addressing workplace stigma. To identify important targets for these interventions, this study addresses three questions: (1) what proportion of workers experiencing mental health issues disclosed their mental health issue to their managers, (2) what factors did they identify as contributing to their disclosure decisions, and (3) what were the consequences of their decisions?Methods: The dataset is comprised of responses from respondents who were randomly drawn from a nationally representative sample of working Dutch adults who completed a web-based survey in February 2018. Respondents indicating they either had or have mental health issues were asked three sets of questions focusing on: (1) Did you disclose your mental health issue to you manager? (2) For what reasons did you disclose/not disclose the issue? (3) What were the consequences of your disclosure decision?Results: About 73% of respondents with lived experience with mental health issues told their managers about their mental health issue. The structure of the survey questions identified four groups of workers who either: (1) disclosed and had a positive experience (64.2%), (2) disclosed and had a negative experience (9.0%), (3) did not disclose and had a positive experience (22.6%), or (4) did not disclose and had a negative experience (4.2%).Conclusion: Our results reflect workers' diverse preferences for disclosing their mental health issues to their managers. Understanding both the factors that contributed to the decision to disclose and the consequences of disclosure decisions could help to better target workplace educational programs and interventions to address workplace stigma. Our findings suggest that addressing workplace stigma may not be as straightforward as requiring all employees to receive anti-stigma education. Rather, education should support workers to make the appropriate disclosure decision based on their workplace contexts. Future research is needed to understand the optimal ways for workers struggling with mental health issues to ask and receive help if they need it.

scholarly journals ‘Swinging the lead and working the head’ – An explanation as to why mental illness stigma is prevalent in policing

2021 ◽  
pp. 0032258X2110490
Author(s):  
Sean Bell ◽  
Sue Palmer-Conn ◽  
Nick Kealey
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Mental Illness Stigma ◽  
Health Issue ◽  
Mental Health Issue ◽  
Related Stigma ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Support Recovery

Policing can be injurious to the mental health of those delivering the service. The causes can be operational, organisational or a mixture of both. Mental health related stigma is prevalent within policing; thus, help seeking is avoided. Those who do seek help are often thought to be malingerers. Managers are considered to be ill equipped to identify and support those at risk. The processes and policies that are meant to support recovery do not meet the needs of the officers and staff living and working with mental ill health. Consequently, disclosing a mental health issue is seen as career destroying.

Stigmatisation of mental illness in the workplace: evidence and consequences

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (02) ◽  
pp. 102-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Bezborodovs ◽  
G. Thornicroft
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Work Place ◽  
Stigma And Discrimination ◽  
Workplace Stigma

SummaryWork plays an important part in everyday life. For people experiencing mental health problems employment may both provide a source of income, improved self-esteem and stability, and influence the course and outcomes of the disorder. Yet in many countries the work-place consistently surfaces as the context where people with mental health problems feel stigmatised and discriminated the most. This paper will review the existing evidence of stigma and discrimination in the workplace, consider the consequences of workplace stigma on the lives of people experiencing mental health problems, and discuss implications for further action.

Predicting Uptake of the COVID Coach App Among U.S. Military Veterans: A Funnel Analysis Using a Probability-Based Panel (Preprint)

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beth K Jaworski ◽  
Katherine Taylor ◽  
Kelly M Ramsey ◽  
Adrienne J Heinz ◽  
Sarah Steinmetz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Mobile Apps ◽  
Military Veterans ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
Mobile App ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Managing Stress ◽  
Usage Data

BACKGROUND Although the pandemic has not led to a uniform increase of mental health concerns among older adults, there is evidence to suggest that some older veterans did experience an exacerbation of pre-existing mental health conditions, and that mental health difficulties were associated with a lack of social support and increasing numbers of pandemic-related stressors. Mobile mental health apps are scalable, may be a helpful resource for managing stress during the pandemic and beyond, and could potentially provide services that are not accessible due to the pandemic. However, overall comfort with mobile devices and factors influencing the uptake and usage of mobile apps during the pandemic among older veterans are not well known. COVID Coach is a free, evidence-informed mobile app designed for pandemic-related stress. Public usage data have been evaluated, but its uptake and usage among older veterans has not been explored. OBJECTIVE The purpose of the current study was to characterize smartphone ownership rates among U.S. veterans, identify veteran characteristics associated with downloading and use of COVID Coach, and characterize key content usage within the app. METHODS Data were analyzed from the 2019-2020 National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study (NHRVS), which surveyed a nationally representative, prospective cohort of 3,078 U.S. military veterans before and one year into the pandemic. The NHRVS sample was drawn from KnowledgePanel®, a research panel of more than 50,000 households maintained by Ipsos, Inc. Median time to complete the survey was nearly 32 minutes. The research version of COVID Coach was offered to all veterans who completed the peri-pandemic follow-up assessment on a mobile device (n = 814; weighted 34.2% of total sample). App usage data from all respondents who downloaded the app (n = 34; weighted 3.3% of the mobile completers sample) were collected between November 14, 2020 and November 7, 2021. RESULTS We found that most U.S. veterans own smartphones and veterans with higher education, greater number of adverse childhood experiences, higher extraversion, and greater severity of pandemic-related PTSD symptoms were more likely to download COVID Coach. Although uptake and usage of COVID Coach was relatively low (3.3% of eligible participants, n = 34), 50% of the participants returned to the app for more than one day of use. The interactive tools for managing stress were used most frequently. CONCLUSIONS Although the coronavirus pandemic has increased the need for and creation of digital mental health tools, these resources may require tailoring for older veteran populations. Future research is needed to better understand how to optimize digital mental health tools, such as apps, to ensure uptake and usage among older adults, particularly those who have experienced traumas across the lifespan.

scholarly journals How managers experience situations involving employee mental ill-health

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 442-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Martin ◽  
Megan Woods ◽  
Sarah Dawkins
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Safety Climate ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Body ◽  
Health Issue ◽  
Mental Health Issue ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Content Type

Purpose Mental health conditions such as depression are prevalent in working adults, costly to employers, and have implications for legal liability and corporate social responsibility. Managers play an important role in determining how employees’ and organizations’ interests are reconciled in situations involving employee mental ill-health issues. The purpose of this paper is to explore these situations from the perspective of managers in order to develop theory and inform practice in workplace mental health promotion. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 Australian managers who had supervised an employee with a mental health issue. Interview transcripts were content analyzed to explore themes in managers’ experiences. Findings Managing an employee with a mental health issue involves becoming aware of the issue, taking action to understand the situation and develop an action response, implementing the response and managing the ongoing situation. Each of these tasks had a range of positive and negative aspects to them, e.g., managing the situation can be experienced as both a source of stress for the manager but also as an opportunity to develop greater management skills. Practical implications Understanding line managers’ experiences is critical to successful implementation of HR policies regarding employee health and well-being. HR strategies for dealing with employee mental health issues need to consider implementation support for managers, including promotion of guiding policies, training, emotional support and creating a psychosocial safety climate in their work units or teams. Originality/value The insights gained from this study contribute to the body of knowledge regarding psychosocial safety climate, an emergent theoretical framework concerned with values, attitudes and philosophy regarding worker psychological health. The findings also have important implications for strategic human resource management approaches to managing mental health in the workplace.

Scope and Burdens of Psychological Dysfunction

2018 ◽  
pp. 19-50
Author(s):  
Alan E. Kazdin
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mental Health Crisis ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Effective Interventions ◽  
Psychological Dysfunction ◽  
Core Features

This chapter addresses several key background topics, including the range and types of psychological dysfunctions, the scope of the problems in terms of incidence and prevalence of cases, and the burdens these place on individuals, families, and society at large. The chapter conveys core features of the mental health crisis and why innovation in developing remedies is so critical. The aim of the chapter is to establish the need for more effective interventions in light of the range of dysfunctions, the high number of people who experience them, and the burdens these dysfunctions cause. The burdens can be evaluated in many ways, including measures of impairment, costs, disability, and lost days. Overall, the costs and lost days of adequate functioning and lost days of life are enormous as a result of mental illness.

Developing policies for adult sexual minorities with mental health needs in secured settings

CNS Spectrums ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 618-623
Author(s):  
Juan Carlos Arguello
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Vocational Programs ◽  
Mental Health Needs ◽  
Transgender People ◽  
Effective Interventions ◽  
Bisexual And Transgender ◽  
Mental Health Treatments ◽  
Lgbt People

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) people are more likely to be disproportionally placed in a secured setting such jails, prisons, and forensic hospitals. These settings can be traumatizing, hostile, and dangerous—especially for those who are suffering from mental illness. Administrators are encouraged to develop institutional policies that undoubtedly include that LGBT residents should be free of discrimination, victimization, and abuse. LGBT residents should have equal access to safe housing, vocational programs, rehabilitation services, as well as medical and mental health treatments. Several organizations provide guidelines to ensure that LGBT residents are protected. This article provides a general roadmap for developing LGBT policies in secured settings synergizing the recommendations of some of these organizations with emphasis on policy guidelines for transgender people that are not only standards for good care but also very cost-effective interventions that can help reduce symptoms of mental illness for this population.

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