Understanding the stigma of mental illness in employment

Abstract

Background: Stigma has been identified as an important barrier to the full community participation of people with mental illness. This study focuses on how stigma operates specifically within the domain of employment. Objectives: The purpose was to advance the development of theory related to the stigma of mental illness in employment to serve as a guiding framework for intervention approaches. Method: The study used a constructivist grounded theory methodology to analyze over 500 Canadian documents from a diverse range of sources and stakeholders, and interviews with 19 key informants. Findings: The paper develops several key components central to the processes of stigma in the work context. These include the consequences of stigma, the assumptions underlying the expressions of stigma, and the salience of these assumptions, both to the people holding them and to the specific employment situation. Assumptions are represented as varying in intensity. Finally specific influences that perpetuate these assumptions are presented. Implications: The model suggests specific areas of focus to be considered in developing intervention strategies to reduce the negative effects of stigma at work.

Does Individual Placement and Support really ‘reflect client goals’?

“…Further, social stigma frequently underpins individual reluctance on the part of service users for engaging with the competitive jobs market (Boyce et al 2008). The main prejudicial assumptions found to be held concerning paid work and people diagnosed with a mental illness, including by workplace managers (Marwaha & Johnson 2005), are doubts about their social and practical capabilities, a suspicion that their employment is based in positive discrimination, perceptions that they will be vulnerable to not coping and fears that they may exhibit behavioural instability (Krupa et al 2009). Some of these beliefs are, of course, held by many service users about themselves.…”

Social Aspects of the Workplace Among Individuals With Bipolar Disorder

“…Similarly, results from this study suggest that individuals with BD who experienced stigma at work were more likely to be unemployed. Based on the negative stereotypes commonly attributed to individuals with BD or mental illness in general (e.g., incompetence, weakness, laziness, dangerousness; Hawke, Parikh, & Michalak, 2013; Krupa et al, 2009), it is plausible that someone whose illness is disclosed at work is more likely to experience negative consequences, such as job loss. This finding highlights a crucial dilemma that employed individuals with BD often face.…”

“…Being excluded in the work environment could lead to a variety of negative consequences. Exclusion reduces the amount of social support one receives from others at work, which is an essential component in the successful management of BD (Krupa et al, 2009). In addition, exclusion may also reduce one’s perceived value at work by coworkers and supervisors, putting the individual with BD in greater jeopardy for job loss (Krupa et al, 2009).…”

“…Exclusion reduces the amount of social support one receives from others at work, which is an essential component in the successful management of BD (Krupa et al, 2009). In addition, exclusion may also reduce one’s perceived value at work by coworkers and supervisors, putting the individual with BD in greater jeopardy for job loss (Krupa et al, 2009). Results from this study provide a unique perspective on the meaningful role work relationships may play in determining employment outcomes for individuals with BD and underscore the importance of intervening to improve relationships with coworkers and supervisors.…”

“…One qualitative study assessed work conflict and stigma at work in relation to occupational functioning and found that individuals with BD reported that both conflict and stigma negatively affect their work functioning (Michalak et al, 2007). An examination of stigma among individuals with mental illness found that expressions of stigma in the work environment produced social conditions that undermined efforts to meet work requirements and fully integrate into the work environment (Krupa, Kirsh, Cockburn, & Gewurtz, 2009). Prior research has also indicated that lower levels of social support are associated with reduced employment status and increased disability rates among individuals with BD (Nordt et al, 2007; Priebe et al, 1998; Ruesch et al, 2004).…”