The Stigma Around Mental Health Problems in the Workplace

The working world we live in requires an income to maintain provisions for shelter, food, and other needs or wants. When living with mental complexities, avoiding the stigma around mental health problems in the workplace can be challenging. Some companies have policies and procedures to protect you from being discriminated against or uncomfortable. However, many things can slip and fall through the cracks.

Unfortunately, the stigma attached to mental health issues allows people to be placed in invisible boxes when others are privy to their challenges. No one should be made to feel out of place or like an outcast due to a mental health condition. However, the fact that it should not happen does not change the reality that it does.

What Is Stigma?

Stigma is almost like a stain. It is a negatively biased association or opinion of any condition or circumstance. Mental health stigma, however, is collective dispositions and beliefs contributing to discrimination against individuals with mental health problems. It can cause people to feel ostracised and isolated.

Stigma can also sometimes prevent people who need help from seeking it. Our beliefs about ourselves can easily be determined by others' beliefs about us if we let them in. This is why it is crucial to combat the stigma around mental health by promoting understanding and acceptance of mental health conditions. Often it is the absence of knowledge that breeds the fool in which stigma can exist.

Conflict Between Stigma and Mental Health in the Workplace

As work is not an obligation that many have the choice to avoid, even those experiencing mental health distress have to be a part of the working world. This can be challenging when trying to juggle work, bills, and all that lies in between.

Also, jobs are one of the greatest contributing factors that can influence mental health. Due to the economic system in which we live, having a job is a must unless you were born into wealth or obtained it. Having a job is not the heaviest part of the responsibility. However, you must make the salary for the life you want to live.

The pressure of having a job and a good one at that is more pressure than a person needs. Then it is inevitably topped with your daily responsibilities and role as an employee. Sometimes these lines are blurred with daily roles and need just as a human being.

As if there needs to be anything added to that mountain, the stigma will find its way to the top if you experience mental health distress. Co-workers who may have knowledge of your personal business may act differently toward you than others. Even management can be awkward and seem as if they do not know how to maneuver around you or your disorder. As a result, mental health stigmas in the workplace can be damaging to a person's mental health and even compromise their recovery journey.

Healthy Ways to Cope With Mental Health Stigma in the Workplace

Adversity and responsibility in life are not avoidable. However, there are healthier ways to deal with them than bottling up the pain, running from discomfort, or turning to vices in hopes of not feeling them.

Some ways to cope with the stigma around mental health in the workplace are:

• Tend to your mental health through individual therapy, self-care, and managing your stress

• Seek out support from family, friends, or a trusted colleague

• Further educate yourself as well as the uneducated on mental health to reduce stigma

• Advocate for yourself because there are mental health accommodations and resources for the workplace that an employer may not even be unaware of

• Set boundaries and speak up if you are stigmatized and report it accordingly

• Take mental health days because it is okay to take time away from the perplexities of work to go someplace fun and rejuvenating

Supporting Mental Health in the Workplace

Maintaining good mental health is just as important in the workplace as in any other setting. The umbrella of mental health stigma travels through more spaces than just the workplace. Fortifying your mental stability and finding ways to support mental wellness can help protect you from mental health stigma overall.

If you are experiencing mental health problems and are unsure about seeking treatment because of the stigma around mental health that exists, professional help is available. Treatment providers can connect you to ways to heal. Treatment programs can help you navigate the working world and the world as a whole. Individual therapy and other forms of treatment can alleviate the stress and burden of your mental condition. So push back against stigma and choose not to conceal it. Don't allow the negative opinion of ignorance to impact how you view yourself.

Work-life balance can be a struggle if you are in a healthy mental state or not. However, having mental health challenges and facing the stigma attached to it in the workplace can be brutal. The stigma associated with having a mental health issue can produce trauma when the knowledge of it is mishandled in the workplace. This can negatively affect your recovery and the progress you have already made. There are, however, ways to combat this.

Find Mental Health Support for Workplace Challenges

Navigating mental health stigma in the workplace requires professional support and effective coping strategies. Use our comprehensive treatment directory to find qualified mental health providers who understand the unique challenges of maintaining wellness while managing work responsibilities. Our directory connects you with professionals experienced in treating work-related stress, anxiety, depression, and trauma, offering individualized treatment plans that help you develop healthy coping mechanisms and advocate for your mental health needs in professional settings.