Clinical Characteristics of Patients Seeking Treatment for Common Mental Disorders Presenting With Workplace Bullying Experiences

Abstract

Background: Targets of workplace bullying tend to develop severe mental health complaints, having increased risk of sick leave and expulsion from the workplace. Hence, these individuals are likely to be overrepresented among patients seeking treatment for common mental disorders (CMD). This study investigated the prevalence of exposure to workplace bullying in a patient group seeking treatment for CMD. Further we explored if exposed and non-exposed patients differed on clinical and workrelated characteristics. Methods: The sample comprised of 675 patients from an outpatient clinic in Norway and consisted of 70% women and had a mean age of 39 (SD = 10.5) years. The study had a cross-sectional design and differences between the patient groups were analysed using chi-square, Mann-Whitney U-tests and independent sample t-tests. Results: The prevalence of exposure to bullying was 25.8%. The patients exposed to bullying reported significantly more major depressive disorders (MDDs) measured with the MINI psychiatric interview, higher levels of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, subjective health complaints, alcohol use, and lower resilience as measured with questionnaires. Twice as many were on full-time sick leave, reported lower work ability, lower return to work self-efficacy, and lower job satisfaction. A majority preferred another job than the one they have today over returning to their current employment. Conclusion: Victims of workplace bullying are a vulnerable group at risk of expulsion from working life, being overrepresented among patients seeking mental health treatment for CMD. One in four patients represented with such experience have higher levels of psychological symptoms and are more often diagnosed with depression as compared to other patients. Thus, this is a problem that should be addressed in clinical settings. If not addressed there is an increased risk of sick leave and permanent exclusion from working life.

Exposure to bullying behaviours, resilience, and return to work self-efficacy in patients on or at risk of sick leave

“…The patients were diagnosed by the clinical psychologists and psychiatrist responsible for treatment diagnoses in accordance with the national guidelines for assessment in secondary care and the International Classification of Diseases- 10 48) . As previously reported in Aarestad et al 49) , the two most common psychiatric diagnosis among the patients where major depressive disorder and generalised anxiety disorder. In the sample 48.3% of the patients were fully working, 24.1% were on full sick leave, and 27.6% were combining work and partial sick leave.…”

“…The patients had a number of different occupations, but a majority belonged to occupations classified by the Norwegian standard classification of occupations as professionals (e.g., engineering, health or teaching professions) followed by the category managers. For more information about the sample please see Aarestad et al 49) .…”

“…All the instruments have shown satisfactory reliability and validity (see Table 1 for further information on mean values and standard deviations in these scales. See also Aarestad et al 49) for more information on the sample).…”

Work after mental-health-related absence: a qualitative study of perceived change after a combination of metacognitive therapy and work-focused interventions

“…Two participants had experienced bullying and harassment at work and had not returned for this reason. Previous research has shown that patients exposed to bullying report significantly higher levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms, as well as lower levels of self-efficacy, job satisfaction and have higher prevalence of sick leave [34]. These patients may need more time to return fully to work, as doing so often involves finding a new workplace, which normally may require more time.…”

A clinical study of musculoskeletal dysfunction in targets of workplace bullying

“…Exposure to workplace bullying has been documented as a prevalent problem in contemporary workplaces and as a serious threat to the health and well-being of those exposed, being related to a range of mental health problems, as well as self-reported psychosomatic and musculoskeletal complaints [5][6][7][8]. Although physical and psychosomatic outcomes have been studied to a lesser degree than psychological outcomes in the form of anxiety and depression, a number of studies describe elevated levels of self-reported musculoskeletal complaints in targets.…”