Your Workplace Is Affecting Your Mental Health

Believe it or not!

Imagine a woman who is currently suffering from depression. She is lucky enough to have family and friends by her side who would help her fight this stigma. Also, her therapist keeps assuring her that depression is nothing to be ashamed of.

But when she goes to work, no one even acknowledges mental illness, as if it doesn’t exist. And occasionally if they do acknowledge, it is mostly in a negative sense. Her supervisor accuses people of using mental illness as an excuse to be lazy or receive special treatment.

In this situation, whom will she believe? her therapist and loved ones who say her mental illness isn’t a weakness? or the people in her workplace with whom she spends the majority of her time? It’s difficult for her to choose. When people want to view their mental health issues positively, they need encouragement and acceptance in all parts of their life. Inconsistencies or absence of positive rhetoric in one environment can make it harder to fight the stigma of mental illness.

Background

Mental health disorders are among the most burdensome health concerns in the United States. In the USA, nearly 1 in 5 adults aged 18 or older (18.3% or 44.7 million people) reported any mental illness in 2016.