…more than one in four American adults has a diagnosable mental health disorder, and one in seventeen has a serious disorder such as schizophrenia orbipolar disorder, but chances are co-workers or managers don’t know who they are… [Psychology Today]
Skyworks Charitable Foundation uses documentary film to bring this issue forward in their social change intiative, Working Life. The online web videos provide heartwarming and insightful portraits of “four adults who grew up in families struggling with mental health difficulties. They reflect on some of the challenges facing their parents, both as parents and as breadwinners, and how their experiences shaped their own goals and expectations.”
The Harvard Medical School found that many of these disorders are hidden at work. Their research busts the myths and gossipy wisdom of the office clique and points out that: “Symptoms of common problems — such as depression, bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and anxiety — are all described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV). But symptoms tend to manifest differently at work than they do at home or in other settings… a nationally representative study of Americans ages 15 to 54, reported that 18% of those who were employed said they experienced symptoms of a mental health disorder in the previous month… Part of the problem may be lack of treatment. In one study, only 57% of employees with symptoms of major depression said they had received mental health treatment in the previous 12 months. Of those in treatment, fewer than half — about 42% — were receiving treatment considered adequate, on the basis of how consistent it was with published guidelines about minimal standards of care. The researchers estimated that over all, when lack of treatment or inadequate treatment was taken into account, only about one in four employees with major depression received adequate treatment for the disorder. [Read the full article]
OUR BULLY PULPIT 