Common Mental Health Issues
Common Mental Health Issues
People experience a variety of painful issues in their lives. From the beginning some issues are more challenging than others, in part because of struggles with either addiction or depression. People who manage their concerns are also managing them when they step into their daily jobs. The problems people carry with them can affect their job performance and their relationships. Their compromised attention can cause additional frustrations such as mistakes and missed work. This is a significant problem businesses must address and some solutions have been discussed that offer the potential for a plan of action.
Workplace Statistics
One in four adults suffers from mental health disorders every year (“Statistics,” 2010). If we consider the number of people who made up the American population in 2004, this constitutes approximately 57.7 million people. There is approximately a .9% population growth within the United States each year (“Population growth,” 2011), and fewer people are choosing to seek mental health support than every before (“Survey says,” 2010). The survey referenced above states that people would rather, “eat (28%), smoke (14%), shop (15%) or watch TV (36%) than see a therapist as a stress management technique.” According to Harvard Medical School (2010), one study done about the direct and indirect cost of 25 chronic mental and physical health issues showed that these 5 health problems ranked the highest; depression, obesity, arthritis, back/neck pain and anxiety.
Addictions
Substance abuse costs American taxpayers approximately 300 billion dollars a year (Gelb & Corrigan, 2008). Of the 21 million people who have addictions, it would be cheaper to put everyone in rehabilitation programs, assuming it would work because there would be a lot of people who still would be addicted because they just can’t be. Approximately 16.4 million people who take drugs along with nearly 15 million people who drink a lot
People experience a variety of painful issues in their lives. From the beginning some issues are more challenging than others, in part because of struggles with either addiction or depression. People who manage their concerns are also managing them when they step into their daily jobs. The problems people carry with them can affect their job performance and their relationships. Their compromised attention can cause additional frustrations such as mistakes and missed work. This is a significant problem businesses must address and some solutions have been discussed that offer the potential for a plan of action.
Workplace Statistics
One in four adults suffers from mental health disorders every year (“Statistics,” 2010). If we consider the number of people who made up the American population in 2004, this constitutes approximately 57.7 million people. There is approximately a .9% population growth within the United States each year (“Population growth,” 2011), and fewer people are choosing to seek mental health support than every before (“Survey says,” 2010). The survey referenced above states that people would rather, “eat (28%), smoke (14%), shop (15%) or watch TV (36%) than see a therapist as a stress management technique.” According to Harvard Medical School (2010), one study done about the direct and indirect cost of 25 chronic mental and physical health issues showed that these 5 health problems ranked the highest; depression, obesity, arthritis, back/neck pain and anxiety.
Addictions
Substance abuse costs American taxpayers approximately 300 billion dollars a year (Gelb & Corrigan, 2008). Of the 21 million people who have addictions, it would be cheaper to put everyone in rehabilitation programs, assuming it would work because there would be a lot of people who still would be addicted because they just can’t be. Approximately 16.4 million people who take drugs along with nearly 15 million people who drink a lot
References: Disorder. (n.d.). NIMH • NIMH Statistics. NIMH • Home. Retrieved November 28, 2011, from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-numbers-count-mental-disorders-in-america/index.shtml#Intro Drug and Alcohol Rehab Costs a Fraction of the Cost of Addiction | Market Wire | Find Articles. (n.d.). Find Articles | News Articles, Magazine Back Issues & Reference Articles on All Topics. Retrieved November 28, 2011, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_pwwi/is_200709/ai_n20516989/ How managers can lower mental illness costs by reducing stigma - Harvard Business Review . (n.d.). Harvard Business Review Case Studies, Articles, Books . Retrieved November 28, 2011, from http://hbr.org/product/how-managers-can-lower-mental-illness-costs-by-red/an/BH282-PDF-ENG?Ntt=cost%2520of%2520mental%2520illness%2520in%2520busine Mental Health Problems in the Workplace - Harvard Health Publications. (n.d.). Health Information and Medical Information - Harvard Health Publications. Retrieved November 28, 2011, from http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Mental_Health_Letter/2010/February/mental-health-problems-in-the-workplace Nami. (n.d.). Nami. Retrieved November 28, 2011, from http://www.nami.org/Content/NavigationMenu/State_Advocacy/About_the_Issue/Workplace.pdf World Bank, World Development Indicators-Google Public Data Explorer. (n.d.). Google. Retrieved November 28, 2011, from http://www.google.com/publicdata?ds=wb-wdi&met=sp_pop_grow&idim=country:USA&dl=en&hl=en&q=population+growth+in+the+united+states eap, Employee Assistance Program - ESI Employee Assistance Group. (n.d.). EAP Employee Assistance Program - ESI Employee Assistance Group. Retrieved November 28, 2011, from http://www.theeap.com/main/getaquote.html?source=google&gclid=CMzonL3tgqUCFQRqKgodMBBlPA retval;}, e. (n.d.). Survey Says: Fewer Americans Using Mental Health Professionals to Manage Stress -- SAN DIEGO, Nov. 9 /PRNewswire/ --. PR Newswire: press release distribution, targeting, monitoring and marketing. Retrieved November 28, 2011, from http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/survey-says-fewer-americans-using-mental-health-professionals-to-manage-stress-69553742.html