Dealing with mental illness stigmas, myths
Over the past decade, the stigma surrounding many mental health issues has begun to dissipate. It’s now generally acknowledged many people experience overwhelming personal issues from time to time, and need help and support to overcome them.
Public figures such as Brooke Shields, Jim Carrey, Ellen DeGeneres, Alanis Morissette, Elton John and Billy Joel have helped by being candid about their own mental health experiences with depression and anxiety.
However, the picture is not as rosy for those with acute, long-term mental health issues such as chronic depression, bi-polar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and schizophrenia. For people struggling with severe psychiatric illnesses, the stigmas and myths remain and organizations are often at a loss as to how to support them.
As research expands our understanding of the brain and more sophisticated medications are developed, an increasing number of people with severe or long-term mental health issues are now able to lead productive lives, including employment. But many employers feel ill-equipped to accommodate mental health disabilities.
So how can organizations better deal with long-term mental health issues? The process begins with creating and maintaining a workplace culture that supports the physical, emotional and social health of all employees — disabled or able-bodied. And that begins with education.
Dispelling myths
Myths surrounding certain mental illnesses create fear and mistrust, which can translate into exclusion, anger and discrimination. However, organizations can play an important role in reducing such stigmas.
Here are four common myths:
Myth: Recovery from severe psychiatric illness is not possible.
Fact: Long-term studies have shown the majority of people with mental illnesses show genuine improvement over time and lead stable, productive lives. While many chronic mental health illnesses are incurable, they are manageable through medication, therapy or a combination of both.
Myth: Mental illness is a weakness or character flaw.
Fact: Mental illness is just that — an illness with genetic or biological causes.
Myth: People with chronic mental illness are violent and dangerous.
Fact: Mentally ill people are no more violent than any other group. In fact, they are far more likely to be the victims of violence than to be violent themselves.
Myth: People with psychiatric disabilities cannot tolerate stress on the job.
Fact: People with a variety of conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, multiple sclerosis and psychiatric disorders, may find their symptoms exacerbated by high levels of stress. However, the source of personal and job-related stress varies substantially among individuals. Some people find an unstructured schedule to be very stressful while others struggle with a regimented workflow. Some people thrive on public visibility or high levels of social contact, while others require minimal interaction to focus and complete tasks. Productivity is maximized when there is a good match between an employee’s needs and working conditions.
Communication
If an employee approaches a manager about her mental health issue, the manager can work confidentially with the employee and her attending physician to understand and discuss what accommodations can be made. When changes are made to the employee’s schedule or duties, the manager can’t tell other employees the reason for the changes, instead a general statement such as “Jane will only be on afternoon shifts for the foreseeable future to accommodate a personal issue” will suffice.
Managers should be aware of their role, responsibilities and limitations, including:
• supporting a troubled employee with an expression of care and concern without presuming a diagnosis or forcing her to reveal a diagnosis or personal details about emotional experiences she may be going through
• documenting an employee’s behavioural issues or observed declining performance
• addressing relevant performance issues with a well-thought-out action plan
• promoting fair application of comprehensive policies
• remaining flexible to accommodate an employee’s special circumstances
• mitigating negative effects on the team.
Accommodation
Some psychiatric illnesses will have no noticeable effect on an employee’s work, while others can be disruptive, causing reduced productivity, increased absenteeism and difficulty with interpersonal relationships. Small workplace adjustments can, however, make a big difference.
Some typical accommodation measures include flexible scheduling (for medical appointments or part-time work) and modified duties.
Bringing in help
If dealing with a chronic or long-term mental health issue is uncharted territory for an organization, this is a good time to reach out to an employee assistance program (EAP) provider. They have the expertise, experience and resources to assist HR, managers, the affected employee and her family, as well as co-workers.
EAP providers can:
• arrange workshops and lunch-and-learns to help workers better understand mental health issues, thus dispelling fear and trepidation
• arrange manager training sessions to help managers better understand their responsibilities
• schedule consultations to assist a manager and HR dealing with a difficult employee situation
• provide additional counselling or consultative support to the affected employee and her family
• provide counselling or consultative support to co-workers
• provide online information and educational resources to all employees.
Naome Howe is the director of clinical services at Ceridian Canada, an EAP and HR solutions provider in Markham, Ont. She can be reached at [email protected].
