We know that many people with a mental health
condition do not participate in key activities of society, they are
socially excluded, and that being in work can reduce the likelihood
of this. The right work, with the right support from
employers, colleagues, carers and health and care professionals can
actually aid recovery for people with mental health problems.
No one is intrinsically unemployable, studies show that,
given the right conditions and support, the vast majority of people
who are out of work and use mental health services want to return
to or to start work.
However, people with mental health problems do face
significant challenges when trying to access employment. Some
of these challenges are shared with other people such as the need
to adjust the physical environment, or to mitigate language
difficulties or the need for extra support or training.
However, often these obstacles are less tangible owing to
some differences between mental health problems and other
impairments:
- They are not immediately obvious and can
develop at any time in a person’s life
- They attract fear and prejudice e.g. myths of
incompetence or dangerousness
- They typically fluctuate and it can be
difficult to predict when these fluctuations will occur
- They affect a person’s ability to negotiate the
social, rather than the physical world of work.
Importantly, the right employment actively can
improve mental health and protect against relapse
Remember also that many people who are working
also experience mental health problems and may have periods of
ill-health whilst at work thus contributing to presenteeism and
absenteeism.
The comprehensive systematic review of the
research evidence carried out by Waddell and Burton, 2006,
concluded that in general:
- Work is beneficial to health and
well-being
- Lack of work is detrimental to
health and well-being leading to higher consultation rates with GPs
than in the general population, increased prevalence of depression
and anxiety and higher suicide rates
- For people without work,
re-employment leads to improvement in health and well-being,
whereas continued unemployment leads to deterioration
- For people who are sick or
disabled, placement in work improves health and psychosocial
status
- The health status of people of
all ages who move off welfare benefits improves
- These benefits apply equally to
people who have mental health problems including those with severe
mental health problems. There is no evidence that work is
harmful to the mental health of people with severe mental
illness.
Links
to resources:
No health without mental health: a cross-Government mental
health outcomes strategy for people of all
ages
No health without mental
health: a cross-Government mental health outcomes strategy was
published in early 2011. It sets out six shared objectives to
improve the mental health and well-being of the nation. It
stresses the interconnections between mental health, housing,
employment and the criminal justice system.
Realising
ambitions: Better employment support for people with a mental
health condition
Rachel Perkins, Paul
Farmer and Paul Litchfield
Department for Work
and Pensions, December 2009
This review (also known
as the Perkins Review) was commissioned by the
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to look at mental health
and employment and to identify how Government could help people
with mental health conditions fulfil their employment
ambitions. It is predicated on the conclusion that
appropriate work is good for you: it improves your mental health
and protects against relapse.
Social Inclusion and Mental Health
Jed Boardman, Alan
Currie, Helen Killaspy, Gill Mezey
Royal College of
Psychiatrists, June 2010
This book reviews the ways
in which people with mental health problems are often excluded from
participating in society. It examines the steps that
psychiatrists and mental health workers can take to facilitate the
social inclusion of people with mental health problems.
Mental health and work
Royal College of Psychiatrists, Health, Work and Wellbeing,
2008
This review was commissioned by the cross
government Health, Work and Wellbeing Programme. It focuses
on mental ill health because these have a greater impact on
people’s ability to work than any other group of health
problems. It includes sections on the effect of work and
worklessness on mental health.
Centre for Mental Health
Employment and mental health
The Centre aims
to find practical and effective ways of overcoming the barriers
faced by people with mental health problems. It carries out
research, policy work and analysis to improve practice and
influence policy in mental health. The website includes a
section on employment and mental health.
Working for a healthier tomorrow
Dame Carol Black's Review of the health of Britain's
working age population, 2008
Chapter 3 looks at the
role of the workplace in promoting and maintaining health and
well-being.
Working our way to better mental health: a framework for
action
Department for Work and Pensions, 2009
This
cross government strategy is built on the conclusion that there is
a positive link between employment and mental health. It
draws on the work of Dame Carol Black, National Director for Health
and Work, as well as other academics and organisations.
Research shows that people generally enjoy better mental health
when they are in work. In contrast, the longer individuals are
absent from or out of work, the more likely they are to experience
depression or anxiety. Work can therefore play a vital role in
improving everyone’s well-being and mental health.
Is work good for your health and well-being?
Gordon Waddell
and Kim Burton, 2006
This review collates and
evaluates the scientific evidence on the link between work and
health. The review focused on adults of working age and the
common health problems that account for two-thirds of sickness
absence and long-term incapacity (i.e. mild/moderate mental health,
musculoskeletal and cardio-respiratory conditions).
|
<<< Back Next
>>>
Taking Work and Employment seriously
Please answer the following questions and press 'submit' to send your answers OR
E-mail your responses to dhart@rcpsych.ac.uk
On each line, click on the mark which most closely reflects how you feel about the
statement in the left hand column.
Your answers will help us to make this leaflet more useful - please try to rate
every item.
Did you look at this leaflet because you are a (maximum of 2 categories please):
Age group (please tick correct box)