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Psychiatric Disabilities / Mental Health

From talking to your employees about mental health problems, to legal rights and responsibilities, managers and supervisors will find resources to help them make their workplace more mentally healthy.

The terms psychiatric disability and mental illness encompass a range of mental health problems that may limit job performance. It should be noted that having a mental illness will not always affect a person's ability to work. While it is estimated that one in six Canadians seek help for a mental health issue at some point in their lives, only three to five per cent of the population is chronically disabled by mental illness.

Common Mental Illnesses

Depression: feeling sad or hopeless, loss of interest in activities; insomnia/fatigue; recurring thoughts of death or suicide; limited ability to think or concentrate.

Bi-Polar Affective Disorder: (also known as manic-depression) periods of severe depression followed by periods of mania; inflated self-esteem, decreased need for sleep, agitated, extremely talkative and easily distracted.

Seasonal Affective Disorder: a form of major depression related to shortened periods of daylight during the fall and winter months.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: recurrent and persistent ideas or impulses; repetitive and intentional behaviours which can significantly interfere with normal routines.

Panic Disorder: attacks of sudden and intense fear causing physical symptoms such as shortness of breath, dizziness, sweating, choking, nausea, chest pain, fear of dying or of doing something uncontrolled.

The complex and cyclical or episodic nature of psychiatric disabilities make generalizations difficult. In addition, a person with mental illness may have multiple impairments affecting their mental abilities or behaviour.

Accommodation:

• Positive, encouraging and welcoming behaviour
• A workplace culture where differences are not viewed as negative impediments and individual strengths are recognized
• The provision of diversity training to all employees; reinforcing the message that job accomodation is not preferential treatment or special privilege

The above information on Accommodations is provided by Future Abilities and Creative Employment (F.A.C.E.)

Other Useful Links and Relevant Information

Mental Health Works 

Examples of accommodations for Mental Health

The most commonly used accommodations for people with mental health problems include:

• Job coach assistance in hiring, and on the job
  
• A job coach may be someone from an outside agency that assists the employee in the workplace. Alternately, someone within the workplace, such as a peer or human resources staff person might perform this role.
  
• The job coach can help in a number of ways such as assisting the person to fill out applications, helping them to reduce their anxiety by providing feedback, observing their work and making suggestions about accommodation.
  
• Flexible scheduling
  
• Flexibility in the start or end of working hours to accommodate effects of medication or for medical appointments.
  
• Part-time shifts (which may be used to return a worker to a full-time position).
  
• More frequent breaks.
  
• Changes in supervision
  
• Modifying the way instructions and feedback are given. For example, written instructions may help an employee focus on tasks.
  
• Having weekly meetings between the supervisor and employee may help to deal with problems before they become serious.
  
• Changes in training
  
• Allowing extra time to learn tasks.
  
• Allowing the person to attend training courses that are individualized.
   
• Modifying job duties
  
• Using technology
  
• Allowing the person to use a lamp instead of fluorescent lights to eliminate a flicker which may be irritating or cause a reaction.
  
• Providing the employee with a tape recorder to tape instructions from a supervisor, training programs and meetings if they have difficulty with memory.
  
• Allowing an employee to use head phones to protect them from loud noises.
  
• Modifying work space or changing location
  
• Allowing an employee to relocate to a quieter area where they will be free from distractions.
  
• Allowing an employee to work at home.
  

Click here to learn more about Recognizing the problems, Rights and Responsibilities, Talking to your employee, Accommodations, Talking to other staff, Prevention and Hiring.