Post Traumatic Stress Disorders Case Study

Mental health issues affect more than 41 million Americans in a given year (Meinert 2014). These issues can range from depression to post traumatic stress disorder. One of many workplace issues is the discrimination of people with a mental health illness due to stigma. It is a company’s moral and ethical obligation to combat stigma within the workplace to promote a safe and productive work environment that allows their employees to feel supported so they can pursue treatment options and access their entitled benefits.

There are many misconceptions about how people with a mental illness function within the workplace. These misconceptions are that people with a mental illness cannot handle stress, they are unpredictable and violent, their conditions

Oxford Dictionary defines stigma as “a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person”(Oxford Dictionaries). The three main subjects that make up stigma are knowledge, attitudes, and behavior (Thornicroft, Brohan, 2010). For people who have a mental disorder, a stigma present within the workplace can result in several forms of discrimination against the individual (Corbière et al, 2012). It can cause them to feel socially excluded, guilty, ashamed, and inferior (Corbière et al, 2012). Shrivastava et al cited Franz et al who did a study that shows how stigma plays a significant role in a patient seeking out and continuing treatment, being compliant, and reaching favorable levels and outcomes of functioning (Shrivastava et al 2013). They also explained in their 2013 Psychiatry journal that the presence of a stigma can create complications for a individual with mental health issues such as “…A delay in treatment seeking, worsens course and outcomes, reduces compliance, and increases the risk of relapse: causing further disability, discrimination, and isolation even in persons who have accessed mental health services” (Shrivastava et al 2013). Phillip Landau of The

Wikipedia explains that employment discrimination is “a form of discrimination based on race, gender, religion, national origin, physical or mental disability, and age by employers”(Wikipedia, n.d.). There are acts that protect people with mental illnesses against discrimination in the workplace such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA n.d.) 11. It is one of the biggest ones and even though this federal law is there for protection against discrimination, with the exception of state wide laws, it can still happen. For example, whether the employee in question gets fired and it is disguised as downsizing or if they are facing discrimination of any kind by colleagues and people in command once they disclose their illness. One of the many ethical issues regarding mental health disorders is the lack of public awareness on the subject and limited knowledge on it (Ngui et al, 2010). The more limited knowledge an individual has the more misinformed they are and that can create a negative impact and further promote the stigma associated with mental disorders. For example, someone could make the assumption that a mentally ill colleague’s work is not as good compared to a person without a mental illness, one could make the assumption that they are violent and will eventually have a dangerous