Mental Illness in the Workplace

The extent of mental illness concerns in the workforce is becoming increasingly apparent. Stress, depression, anxiety, workplace bullying and other issues are costing businesses billions every year in lost productivity, poor treatments and employee retention. Unless appropriately addressed, issues related to mental illness difficulties will result in stiff financial, organizational, and human costs for organizations. Drawing on empirical evidence from North America, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, the book provides a practical guide to identifying, understanding, treating and preventing individual and organizational mental health issues. The authors illustrate how organizations can save money and improve the health and wellbeing of their employees by using a psychological disability management approach in the treatment and accommodation of mental illness issues. This book will meet the needs of human resources professionals, administrators of employee assistance programs, industrial and organizational psychologists, mental health practitioners, those teaching or studying psychology and disability management, and more generally will serve to enlighten students of business management and practicing managers regarding a major workforce risk factor.

Henry G. Harder is Indigenous Scholar, Professor and past Chair of the School of Health Sciences at the University of Northern British Columbia, Canada. Shannon Wagner is Professor of Health Sciences at the University of Northern British Columbia, Canada. Josh Rash is Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada.

1. Introduction 2. The Scope of Mental Illness 3. Current Thinking about Mental Illness in the Workplace 4. Depression in the Workplace 5. Anxiety in the Workplace 6. Occupational Stress 7. Post-traumatic Stress in the Workplace 8. Toxic Work Environment 9. Worksite Reactions and Interactions with Mental Health 10. Psychological Assessment for the Workplace 11. How to Create a Healthy Workplace 12. Legislation and Accommodation for Mental Healthin the Workplace 13. Why Positivity Matters