Menatl ilness

Running Header: Mental Issues in the Workplace

Mental Issues in the Workplace

Mental Issues in the Workplace

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Mental issues in the workplace

Mental health problems always affect so many employees in the workplace. The mental disorders sometimes go unrecognized, and untreated, and this ultimately hinders the career development of those who are affected by mental health problems. The issues, and challenges faced by people with mental disorders are:

Inability to work in a noisy environment; employees who have mental illnesses will always find it difficult to work in an environment where there is a lot of noise because they easily get distracted by sounds, and other environmental stimuli (Baumann & Muijen, 2010).

Inability to concentrate; they will always have a very short attention span, and will also have a hard time remembering verbal directions.

Lack of stamina; they will always feel drained, and may lack the necessary energy to carry them throughout the day (Baumann & Muijen, 2010). Their medications may also make them drowsy, and tired.

Difficulties in working under pressure, and handling multiple tasks; setting of priorities and meeting of deadlines set is a big challenge to those who have a mental illness in the workplace. This is because they always have much going on in their lives, and therefore lack the proper mindset for effective planning, and organizing of their work. They are often too sensitive and the slightest pressure in the workplace may worsen their condition (Robinson & Smallman, 2006).

Difficulties in interacting with others; employees with mental disorders are often too conservative, and always fear interacting with others. This is because they fear exposing their problems to their fellow colleagues who they think may judge, and stigmatize them (Robinson & Smallman, 2006).

Difficulties in handling criticism; since these employees are always very sensitive, they tend to take correction very personal. Their lack of self-esteem gives them a lower hand when they are responding to negative feedback about their work. They may see themselves as, and may even end up quitting their jobs because of the constant negative feedback from their managers, and their fellow workers about how they perform their tasks.

Difficulties in responding to change; unexpected changes at work are usually stressful to such people. They will have difficulties in adapting to new work environments, and new work procedures which they are not used to.

The opportunities experienced by people with mental issues in the workplace include:

Awareness programs by companies that they work for; companies have started raising awareness on issues of mental illness in the workplace in an effort to identifying those who are affected by mental illnesses (Jones & Latrieille, 2011).

Guidance and counselling at the workplace; there are always guidance, and counselling services for people with mental issues in an effort to help them recover fully from their mental illnesses. The guidance, and counselling services may be daily or monthly (Jones & Latrieille, 2011).

Medication; some companies have started special programs whereby they liaise with health experts who administer medication to those workers who have mental illnesses.

Sick leaves; the employees with mental illnesses are always given a sick leave so as to go, and recover fully from their illnesses.

The society in general stigmatizes such individuals because they perceive them as being disadvantaged, and not fit to work. Due to their overly sensitive nature, the society fears interacting with such people because they have a perception that such people are not very friendly. The people with mental issues are thus left by the society to fight their own battles, and this is very dangerous because it makes them more mentally disturbed.

However, there are a few organizations in the society which have depicted a great concern for such people. There are open centers where people with mental issue can go for guidance, and counseling. There are also free recovery centers which help people with mental issues to fully recover from their illnesses.

Therefore, the society has not really responded positively to such people because they have a bad perception towards them.

References

Baumann, A., & Muijen, M. (2010). Mental Health and Well-being at the Workplace. Denmark: WHO Regional Office for Europe.

Jones, M. K., & Latrieille, P. L. (2011). Job Anxiety, Work-Related Psychological Illness and Workplace Perfomance. Bonn, Germany.

Robinson, A. M., & Smallman, C. (2006). The Contemporary British Workplace. work, Employement and Society, 87-107.