Psychological disorders, just like any physical illness, are present everywhere and among all age groups. Favoritism is very common too and it destroys the lives of many every day. Just like age discrimination and gender discrimination are seen in the workplace, so is mental health discrimination. Narrow-minded people tend to discriminate very often as those individuals cannot accept that people are different. One might think that mental health issues are not very common but in fact, according to the World Health Organization WHO, 1 out of 4 people suffer from a mental problem. Actually, just because people do not have their psychological disorders stamped on their foreheads in the work field, it does not mean that they are not facing one. According to the findings in the literature of the articles read, mental health discrimination stops employees from applying to a job and jeopardizes those who are already employed. According to the findings in the literature of the five articles, there are two main consequences associated with mental health favoritism in the workplace: individuals suffering from a mental illness tend to skip more work days and women with psychological problems are less likely to get a job than men facing the such problems.
The main point that authors share from the five articles that were analyzed is that women are more prone to discrimination than men in their jobs. According to Nagyeong et al. (2018), “Workplace discrimination was higher in females (42.2%) than males”. In parallel to this author, Women experienced higher levels of common mental disorders than men (Kamaldeep, B., 2005). Schutte et al. (2014) found “The prevalence of poor psychological well-being was significantly higher among women (28.33%) than among men (23.56%). Women are said to be over reactors and emotional beings but this is not a fact. That is one of the reasons females experience more discrimination. In a study conducted by the Research Center survey in 2017, “44% of men say their workplace is majority-male”. Another reason why women, more than men, face discrimination is that they are viewed as the weaker versions of human beings whereas men get more defensive if they face any favoritism.
Another main finding that the authors share is that psychologically unhealthy individuals tend to skip a lot of working days due to their illness. Oplex (n.d), found that people with poor mental health skip 30% or more work days than individuals with a physicals illness. It is familiar many that a lot that sometimes one tries to get out of bed but cannot and this could be a sign that that one might be experiencing a mental problem. According to Kamaldeep (2005), “The annual cost of common mental disorders in the United Kingdom has been estimated to exceed €6 billion”. Even mild forms of mental disorders can lead to prolonged disability and loss of working days”. Harnois and Gabriel (2002) also talked about the same issue “According to the WHO, impaired psychological well-being is one of the most prominent causes of reduced job involvement and absenteeism from the workplace”. Again, many of us have previously experienced the feeling that they were tired to do anything, not physically tired but mentally.
All authors from the five articles made the point but their studies were limited to only a few countries. Mental health discrimination is not only present in these countries. In fact, people might even think that mental health discrimination is not that common but, “For seeking employment, 16.2% reported experiencing discrimination, while 15.3% reported discrimination in keeping work. Whereas, 45.0 and 30.7% reported stopping themselves from applying for work and in applying for education and training due to anticipated discrimination” (Yoshimura, Y. et al. 2018). One of the main myths about people with psychological disorders is that they do not recover. Individuals with mental problems can definitely recover by either going to a psychiatrist for medicine or to a psychotherapist for cognitive behavioral therapy CBT. Mood stabilizers can work effectively with patients suffering from Bipolar disorders and SSRI antidepressants can work very well for those suffering from depression. All of these pills can be prescribed by a psychiatrist if one is serious about resolving these issues. It’s very sad that managers give up on people with mental illnesses. According to Martin (2016), 9 out of 10 people with mental illness are experiencing discrimination. Mental health discrimination should be banned in all countries as it can leave a very negative effect on the lives of those victims. We should stand up for those people as nobody is protected against developing a mental illness.
Individuals might be experiencing a psychological disorder but are unaware of it. Discrimination is very wrong in all forms and should be forbidden everywhere. Mentally ill people are the most ones who need accommodation and support, they have already stepped forward for therapy and it is our responsibility not to make them regret it. The good news is something can be done about it; mental health professionals should give talks in schools, universities, and on TV and this is to raise awareness and make it clear that mental problems are just like any physical problem and they are very common among all age groups. Mental health professionals should seek change by reporting what these people are facing to the government so the law can better protect these victims.
References
Bhui, K. S. (2005). Am J Public Health. Retreived from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1449208/?tool=pmcentrez&report=abstract
McDowel, C. (2014). Link Springer. Retrieved from: https://link-springer-com.ezsecureaccess.balamand.edu.lb/article/10.1007%2Fs10926-014-9512-y
Nagyeong, L.-H. J. (2018). Wiley Online Library. Retrieved from: https://login.ezsecureaccess.balamand.edu.lb/login?url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ajim.22876
Schu¨tte, S. P.-T. (2014). Link Springer. Retrieved from: https://link-springer-com.ezsecureaccess.balamand.edu.lb/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs00420-014-0930-0.pdf
Yoshimura, Y. B. (2018). Link Springer. Retrieved from: https://link-springer-com.ezsecureaccess.balamand.edu.lb/article/10.1007%2Fs00127-018-1561-7