Forums › Life › Health & Medicine › Mental illness now ‘last taboo’
It has been described as the last taboo. Significant mental distress will affect one in four of us in our lifetime. One in six of the population is suffering at any time – the vast majority enduring depression, stress and anxiety.
And yet the evidence is that stigma and discrimination are rife in the workplace – even among those with mild to moderate problems.
While 75% of adults are in work and 65% of people with physical health problems, among those with mental health problems the figure is 20%.
Airbrushed out
Diane Hackney was marked out as a city high-flyer, destined to be the first woman on the board of a multinational company based in London.
Then depression struck and three months later she returned to work to find her job and her career had been airbrushed out.
“Their response was – we can’t have people like you in that position in our company”, she says. “I had no work. I sat at my desk and realised this wasn’t going to change. I eventually asked for redundancy and they were happy I had asked.”
It is a familiar story. A third of people with mental health problems say they have been sacked or forced to resign because of their condition.
About 40% say they have been denied a job because of their history of psychiatric treatment and 95% reckon their mental health problems have had considerable negative effects on their employment
There was no medical reason why Diane could not hold down a top job. Indeed, she carved out a new career as an advisor and consultant in the voluntary sector – becoming the chief executive of a mental health charity.
‘Extremely painful’
Eventually she was headhunted by the NHS who asked her to be patient representative on the board of one of a mental health trust.
But then Diane had another episode of depression – and the trust was far from understanding.
“It was extremely painful”, she says. “More distressing than any of my mental health issues. It is still distressing to think about it now.”
The relationship with the trust worsened and they asked her to resign. Eventually, she says she was forced out.
“I think people thought I would lose insight, would be psychotic, unable to do my job.”
Could that be true? “No, not according to my medical records no.”
Thirty per cent of workers will have a mental health problem in any one year, and yet many employers deny they have any workers with such problems.
Today Diane is fighting against stigma and prejudice – working with the Department of Health and voluntary groups trying to counter the ignorance and fear which blights the lives of people suffering even mild mental distress.
Employees ‘fearful’
How does she rate British employers? “Terrible, truly terrible”, she says. “My story is far from unique.”
Diane points to what she sees as the Catch 22 problem for people with mental health issues.
“People don’t realise that in order to be protected by the Discrimination Act they must inform their employers of their condition. But people don’t because they fear the consequences.” Are they right to be fearful? “Yes, they are.”
The proportion of employers who say they won’t recruit people with mental health problems? 63%.
whoa this really is the last taboo isnt it? :crazy::crazy::crazy:
6 people have answered the poll and not a single post – thats probably some sort of record here on pv :crazy_diz usually we would have some sort of post on the thread by now :groucho::groucho:
sorry mate
i’ve working in tier 0 (diversionary / suportive therapeutic) mental health services in the past and now work with a number of under25s with mental health issues, from paranoid psychosis to self harm to anxiety
it is a major taboo.. let’s face it, if you told your boss or wokmates you’d found out you’d developed a heart condition, they wouldn’t think any less of you… but negative stereotypes around mental health are common
the media often report on health issues such as obesity, heart desease, cancer treatments etc, but it’s rare that mental health gets mentioned unless someone escapes from rampton and does something extreme
in my last job, which was supposed to be a ‘caring’ organisation, one of the managers had a nervous breakdown. when it was reported to staff that she wouldn’t be back to work for at least 4 weeks (although anyone with any understanding of mental health issues would know it would be much longer) other staff were heard loudly saying “oh they should just resign… 4 weeks? that’s rediculous” :you_crazy
the new disability discrimination act should offer some legal support to people with enduring mental health issues, butto fight an employment tribunal, you would need to made of emotional rock, so inreality, it’s unlikely to be really useful
current employment practices and expectations on employees to give up their lives for their (middle level) job and the mind numbingness of low level jobs, coupled with societies indifference to one another’s feelings are causing ever increasing problems
it takes a second to dismiss someone or a minute to show some understanding… be a good lover… take your time
There is huge discrimination with in some work places, IMHO there needs to be much more education for the wider public. As it stands we tend only to hear about ‘violent’ ‘dangerous’ mentally ill people who reach the headlines having committed an offence. We do not often get to hear about those who have achieved and overcome stimatisation etc as its not news!
I am fully aware that some people work the system etc as it is so open and easy to do as there is no ‘blood’ test that one can take, but that in itself can highlight an unerlying problem.
I could go on and on, it is a subject that I often wax lyrical on………….
its strange isnt it?
i have a GP who used to dismiss stress and depression as not being real conditions [ i say used to because their sibling comitted suicide a couple of years ago and now they at least listen to you if you say your are stressed :hopeless:]
i had undiagnosed depression for ten years and they were not nice years in my life :hopeless: . And then a Dr said to me ‘i think you are depressed and why dont we try treating it for 6 weeks and see how we go ?’
it was like someone had turned a light on in my life – i reediscovered my enjoyment of all kinds of stuff i had stopped doing and could deal with being sociable again [previously i had not wanted to talk to folks at all – in fact i have very few friends from those years as i did not socialize much:crazy:]
and after a few months i came of the tablets and i have been pretty good ever since :weee: :weee: :weee:
dont know about anybody else but in my family depression was not talked about or in fact any other kind of mental illness – there is some stigma attached to it that they cant get past [ like it makes you less than human or something:you_crazy:you_crazy:you_crazy]
they just thought i should pull myself together and get on with my life – really helpful when you are so depressed getting out of bed is a struggle and out of the house almost impossible:you_crazy:you_crazy:you_crazy had i been able to get myself out of the hole without help dont you think i would have done so?
[you think feeling like that day in day out is an enjoyable experience? :you_crazy:you_crazy:you_crazy]
i was lucky in my partner who i met halfway through that period and who is still with me – they encouraged me and helped me through some of the dark [ i call them black dog] days when life no longer seemed worth living
:flowers::flowers::flowers::flowers::flowers:
thank you to all the people who cared enough to support me when i was low – i wouldn’t be here without you
:love::love::love:
there’s a ken loach film (can’t remember which one) with a line about depression…
her: “don’t you ever feel depressed?”
him: “I don’t have time to feel depressed. I’m working class.”
not saying I think this, but I think what the line was getting atit the denial and suppression of feelings… maybe that goes some way to explaining the rise in violence in Uk today… people supress their own feelings and therefore can’t empathise with / relate to others… which leads to conflict
dont know about anybody else but in my family depression was not talked about or in fact any other kind of mental illness – there is some stigma attached to it that they cant get past [ like it makes you less than human or something:you_crazy:you_crazy:you_crazy]
they just thought i should pull myself together and get on with my life – really helpful when you are so depressed getting out of bed is a struggle and out of the house almost impossible:you_crazy:you_crazy:you_crazy had i been able to get myself out of the hole without help dont you think i would have done so?
[you think feeling like that day in day out is an enjoyable experience? :you_crazy:you_crazy:you_crazy]
i was lucky in my partner who i met halfway through that period and who is still with me – they encouraged me and helped me through some of the dark [ i call them black dog] days when life no longer seemed worth living
Couldent have said it better myself 😥 😥
But i’m getting better i think..
Or hope..
But i’m getting better i think..
Or hope..
:group_hug:group_hug:group_hug:group_hug:group_hug:group_hug
Neither I or anyone in my family has suffered mental illness,but we had a close friend who did,we wound up kind of temporarily fostering her 5 children between a group of four of us to keep them out of the welfare system while she was treated/recovered.Thing is that whilst she is now much better and reunited with her children she is an honest woman and has been refused jobs as simple as dishwashing in a hotel on account of telling employers what she has been through.
So if I was to ever suffer the same I dont think I would be letting on to any future employers.
her: “don’t you ever feel depressed?”
him: “I don’t have time to feel depressed. I’m working class.”
not saying I think this, but I think what the line was getting atit the denial and suppression of feelings… maybe that goes some way to explaining the rise in violence in Uk today… people supress their own feelings and therefore can’t empathise with / relate to others… which leads to conflict
that is something I definitely agree with…
also I think people deliberately take advantage of others vulnerabilities to compete..
and as soon as long-term mental or physical illness causes extra cost to many private companies they will look for a way of getting rid of the “underperforming” employee, no matter how many political correctness/diversity laws are about
OTOH a big paradox is that people with psychotic mental illnesses who are manipulative, aggressive and can override others feelings can often do very well in the workplace if they can control the urges to commit obvious crime/physical violence and can reach a position of power.
Like Bush :laugh_at::laugh_at:
Up until 12mths ago I was receiving various treatments for a v.bad & prolonged episode of depression & am only too aware of the negative stereotypes surrounding mental health issues. Most people tend to be v.dismissive of a person if they are told they suffer from a mental health issue, even a v.common one such as depression where many tend to be of the opinion that the label depression connotes with notions of attention seeking, weak character or even lying. Individuals with the more extreme mental health issues are often viewed with contempt, or even worse as figures of fun, an image often endorsed by the media (how many times have you opened a paper & read derogatory labels describing those with such problems? ie; loony, psychopath – often used in the wrong context, nutter etc…the headlines used to describe Frank Bruno’s bout of mental illness are a v.good eg & this bloke was a former national hero!). It was particularly disturbing to discover the woman in the article was hounded out of her job in the NHS, you would perhaps expect a more liberal attitude towards such matters in an institution involved in delivering healthcare (or even better mechanisms in place for dealing with it) but this is obviously not the case. However; my own experiences suggest that gaining access to psychiatrists & the like can be time consuming & may not always equate with improved mental wellbeing. There are many rival schools of thought in counselling, psychology & psychiatry, thus the theoretical orientation of the clinician can have a major impact on the speed with which a person recovers, furthermore the drugs that are prescribed to ‘aid’ the psychotherapy can often cause greater distress than good (again different physicians may prescribe different drugs for the same problem). I’m not trying to detract from the work of those who work in such an area (I eventually want to practice psychology myself), but feel the whole process is akin to russian roulette for both clinician & patient alike, those that laugh & dismiss those with mental health issues are often narrow minded & shallow… it’s alot easier to mock than it is to understand.
It is always easier to demonize that which we do not understand than actually make the effort to understand the problems :you_crazy:you_crazy:you_crazy
The ridiculing of that which we do not understand is the voice of our fears talking out loud. Lets grow up and face our fears instead of hiding from them in the hope they will go away.
The ridiculing of that which we do not understand is the voice of our fears talking out loud. Lets grow up and face our fears instead of hiding from them in the hope they will go away.
I agree v. muchly.. The majority of people who dismiss mental illnesses may have been affected by it in someway during their lives, whether a friend/family member suffered it, or even themselves.
I was diagnosed with depression by my doctor 9 months ago, yet only a few of my friends know & i haven’t discussed it with any of my family because they put everything down to “being a teenager who doesn’t understand real problems”. I went to counselling for a few months this year but stopped, and am going back again. If it was a topic that people addressed more then maybe a lot of people could be helped and not feel so alone…
raaa
:group_hug:group_hug:group_hug:group_hug:group_hug:group_hug
you know where you are if you need us 😉
it is completely unhelpful to sign off on a person’s depression by telling you dont understand real problems – if you didnt have problems you likely would not be depressed [the fact that they are unable to empathise with you enough to understand them does not in anyway make them less real:you_crazy] [just means they are too self involved to be able to see things from another’s point of view ]
hang in there luckystar and you will get through it :group_hug:group_hug:group_hug:group_hug
if you need to talk we are here for you :group_hug:group_hug:group_hug
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Forums › Life › Health & Medicine › Mental illness now ‘last taboo’
