4 out of 10 companies won’t employ people with “mental illness”

Many partners/spouses/family members are critical of the fact that whoever in their family with Bipolar (or other mental illness) might not be working or is in and out of work “can’t hold a job down”. Often this is manifest by them saying “they’ve never worked”, “they’ve been unemployed for years”, “they don’t want to work” etc. Just read various entries in my blog and you’ll see these comments listed.

So, I’ve been researching work place discrimination. Is it true that all these people who are unemployed are “lazy”, “can’t be bothered” “unreliable” “don’t want to work” etc? Or is it that they can’t get work due to their history of mental illness?

Well, I’m posting some research for you all showing just how big a problem it is for people with mental health problems to work and to find work.  Here are some excerpts from Professor Thornicroft’s work “Actions Speak Louder than Word” report for the Mental Health Foundation.

20% of the general population are unemployed.

35% of physically disabled people are unemployed.

80% of people with mental health illnesses are unemployed.

This is the highest rate of unemployment amongst all categories of people and substantially higher than amongst physically disabled people (Nice to know I’m in a “category”).

It is clear that although the primary disability can affect a person’s ability to find and keep work, the flexibility of the employment environment also plays a large part in shaping how far people with diagnoses of mental illness are included in the workforce. The figures are formidable in England:

  • 33% of people with mental health problems say that they have been dismissed or forced to resign from their jobs,
  • 40% say that they were denied a job because of their history of psychiatric treatment
  • 60% say that they have been put off applying for a job as they expect to be dealt with unfairly.Indeed for some people discrimination in the work place is far greater than in any other domain

But this unemployment rate is not due to people being “lazy”: One survey found that people with mental disorders had the highest ‘want to work’ rate i.e. 86% of people with mental illness wanted to find a job, compared to 52% of the disabled people interviewed wanted to find a job.

Why is finding and keeping a job so difficult for so many people with a diagnosis of
mental illness?
One explanation is that employers discriminate against applicants who declare a history of psychiatric treatment. In a study of 200 Human Resource Officers in UK companies, vignettes of job applicants were submitted which were identical except for the presence or absence of a diagnosis of depression. The mention of a mental illness significantly reduced the chances of employment, compared with a history of diabetes. This differential treatment was made based upon perceptions of potential poor work performance, rather than expectations of future absenteeism.

Similar results came from another national study of employers in Britain. Fewer that 40% said that they would
consider employing a person with a history of mental health problems, compared with 60% for people with
a physical disability, and about 80% for long-term unemployed people and lone parents 74;89;90. One possible check to such direct discrimination are the policies of Occupational Health departments, but fewer than half of employers in the UK, for example, have such staff.

A real dilemma faced by people with a history of psychiatric treatment is whether to disclose this when applying for a job. From what we have seen there are strong reasons to believe that disclosure will reduce the likelihood of success. On the other hand, failure to disclose may break an employment contract, and also mean that the person is not able to ask for modifications to the job to make it more manageable (usually called ‘reasonable adjustments’) under the Disability Discrimination Act.

So there is no easy solution to this dilemma, or how to describe gaps in the employment
history. One approach is to make a balance sheet of advantages and disadvantages of declaring a history of
mental illness, and to use this in making a decision.

The other is to become self employed where possible as this circumvents any need to disclose it at all!

Here is a definition of Stigma: “stigma projects the  fear and anxiety felt by members of the general population onto the person with the diagnosis. People with a diagnosis do not really carry a mark that sets them aside.”

So there is no mark on us and yet we are set aside. What are the reasons for this?

Do write in and let me know your employment experiences…..

About this entry

You’re currently reading “4 out of 10 companies won’t employ people with “mental illness”,” an entry on Kids Need Mums

Published:
5.16.08 / 9am
Category:
Bipolar, Discrimination, Mental Health, Mental Health Discrimination, Mental Health Foundation, Mental Health Prejudice
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