Why Do Employees Discriminate In Psychiatric Conditions?

In the past, individuals with psychiatric conditions were discriminated against because the people at the time did not understand much about the brain and how it functioned. Today, though, people understand much more about the brain, and the diseases and disorders that are associated with it. However, a significant amount of people with psychiatric conditions are still being discriminated and receive negative criticisms. One of the many places people with psychiatric conditions can experience discrimination are in work places, and especially from employers. For that reason, many of the individuals that are effected by psychiatric illnesses feel the need to conceal their illness from current or future employers. There are multiple reasons that employers seem to discriminate against people with mental illnesses, and roughly all of the reasons stem from public stigmas. The public appears to think people with mental illnesses are the cause of their own illness, and that it makes them inherently weak (Corrigan and Watson). Some also believe
First of all, having a job can actually help many of the people affected by psychiatric disabilities. Working or holding positions seem to help patients recover, because having a job is vital to their sense of worth (Ross). Work lets the people who separate themselves and feel insufficient to “engage socially and feel needed and successful,” (Ross). Essentially, denying them jobs can make them feel worse. There are even laws in place that prohibit employers and work places from discriminating people because of their disabilities, including psychiatric-related ones, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, or more commonly known as the ADA. Altogether, individuals with psychiatric conditions should not be discriminated against, especially when the basis of why they are discriminated is because of public stigmas that are essentially never