Running Head: MENTAL ILLNESS AND WORKPLACE 1

The Impact of Mental Illness in the Workplace

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A. Introduction

i. Mental illnesses among many employees are overlooked because they are hidden

at work.

ii. The most economic cost of mental health issues originates from reduced

productivity of workers.

iii. Common issues include low productivity while at work, absenteeism, and extra

costs of production.

iv. Objective: to analyze the impact of mental illness on workplace productivity.

B. The Pervasive and Costly Nature of Mental Illness.

i. Mental illness is costly and pervasive.

ii. OECD (2012) estimates that one in every five worker has a mental issue that has a

life span of up to 50 percent of working years.

iii. Center for Mental health (2010) estimates mental health’s economic cost amount

to 105.2 billion euros in England and 198.2 billion USD in the United States.

iv. Workplaces incur these costs because workers are less productive, especially

when they have a mental health issue.

v. Greenberg et al. (2003), for instance, link depression costs to reduced workers'

productivity.

C. Mental Health Issues and Workplace Absenteeism

i. Mental illness causes workplace absenteeism

ii. Absenteeism is the practice of regularly failing or staying away from a scheduled

task or work.
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iii. Absenteeism is also linked to other counterproductive conducts such as reduced

personal turn over and productivity and lateness.

iv. Determinants of absenteeism include those that influence job content, working

conditions, workplace relationships, personal well-being, and individual

circumstances and characteristics, which are also determinants of mental issues

such as stress.

v. A mentally ill individual has high propensities of failing to attend to the scheduled

task.

D. Mental Health Issues and Workplace Presenteeism

i. Mental Health Issues causes presenteeism

ii. Johns (2010) defines presenteeism as attending work while sick and Schultz and

Edington (2007) defines it as reduced job performance due to the presence of

mental issues.

iii. Through reduced work performance, inefficiencies, or workplace restrictions

stemming from attending to work schedules while sick, presenteeism can result in

mental issues.

iv. Johns (2010) indicate that presenteeism is linked to personal circumstances,

attitudes, health status, and work-related factors.

v. Mental health issues strongly correlate with presenteeism.

E. Conclusion

i. Mental illness's toll on productivity leads to economic costs for societies,

businesses, and employees.

ii. Absenteeism and presenteeism, due to mental issues, diminishes productivity.

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iii. Absenteeism and presenteeism indicate that there is an association between

workplace productivity and mental health issues.

iv. Mental illness negatively impact workplaces

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References

Centre for Mental Health, 2010. The Economic and Social Costs Of Mental Health Problems in

2009/10. Centre for Mental Health, London. Retrieved From: http://www.

centreformentalhealth.org.uk/economic-and-social-costs-2009.

Greenberg, P. E., Kessler, R. C., Birnbaum, H. G., Leong, S. A., Lowe, S. W., Berglund, P. A.,

& Corey-Lisle, P. K. (2003). The economic burden of depression in the United States:

how did it change between 1990 and 2000?. Journal of clinical psychiatry, 64(12), 1465-

1475.

Johns, G. (2010). Presenteeism in the workplace: A review and research agenda. Journal of

Organizational Behavior, 31(4), 519-542.

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2012). Sick on the job?: Myths and

realities about mental health and work. Paris: OECD Publishing.

Schultz, A. B., & Edington, D. W. (2007). Employee health and PresenteeismPresenteeism: a

systematic review. Journal of occupational rehabilitation, 17(3), 547-579.