What is the Impact of Psychiatric Disorders on Employers?

There is no doubt that unforeseen events arise in almost every life that can have undesirable consequences on peoples' lives. For example, tragedies do happen, and the depression that usually follows is not an illness, but a normal reaction that might require assistance to get through. Psychiatrists are an important resource to help patients and their families cope with whatever problems life throws at them.

Psychiatric illnesses fall into several categories: anxiety, mood and schizophrenic disorders. Anxiety disorders include anxiety attacks, phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Mood ailments refer to depression, inappropriate affect and bi-polar or manic-depressive illness. Possibly the most severe, and the most difficult of these categories to treat is schizophrenia, which presents with a variety of symptoms - often difficult for even a psychiatrist to diagnose with certainty.

At one time, one of the most unfortunate aspects of any psychiatric diagnosis was the perception that a mental illness follows you through life. It is now better understood that most such disorders can be controlled through psychotherapy and/or prescribed medication and that symptoms will often fade away entirely. In fact, because psychiatrists are medical doctors, they recognize that what historically had been clinically diagnosed as a emotional issue can in fact be a real physical illness that is masquerading as a psychological disorder. For example, a patient with hypo-thyroidism which can be medically treated with hormones, will often exhibit extreme bouts of anxiety. These can be so severe as to render this patient not capable of earning a living - which impacts the employer.  Once the thyroid levels are brought back into balance, the anxiety has been known to disappear completely.

In the absence of true physical disorders, such as this thyroid example, there are often few verifiable tests to determine whether or not a patient has an identifiable mental illness, chemical imbalance of the brain or other physiological reason for his problems. Many unruly youngsters, for example, are given Ritalin or other medications for ADHD treatment, when in fact they might simply be more energetically curious than is considered "normal." This is yet another situation when the skills and experience of a trained psychiatrist can help determine if such treatment is warranted.

It has been suggested that pharmaceutical companies will find someone with symptoms that are slightly outside of the "norm" and will go on to concoct chemical compounds to cure the disease they have coined. This can pile on negative side effects that an already troubled patient will have to deal with. This is not an argument advocating that psychotropic drugs are never useful. Combined with cognitive therapy or similar treatment by a psychiatrist, mental disorders can often be controlled, allowing patients to lead normal lives, attend school and be fully employed.

Recent studies have shown that workers who have been diagnosed with mental issues do have about five times the rate of work loss or work cutback days per month than do employees with no conditions. Work loss days are similar in all occupations, while cutback days are more frequent among professional employees.Employers who are aware of these figures are able to accommodate those workers who experience the occasional flare-up with compassionate understanding. Psychiatric illness is not a crime and should be accepted as just a small bump in the road of progress in otherwise capable employees.

The end goal for patient, mental health specialist, and employer alike is to get any person suffering with any emotional issue treated as quickly and efficiently as possible. This minimizes the social stigma that might be attached to the patient, the stress on friends and family, and of course, is much more efficient for the employer who needs to know how to assign work and resources efficiently.


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