Focus on Mental Health

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Mental health problems can occur at any age. Young people with mental health problems may be looking for entry-level jobs. Adults with mental illness may need to learn new skills, pursue different employment paths, or develop ways to stay on their current job. At any point in a person’s life, severe mental illness will present challenges that, with the right support, people can overcome. Like all workers, people with severe mental illnesses can benefit greatly from the security and self-sufficiency that come with stable and fulfilling employment, but employment is only part of the recovery process.

Recovery from mental illness is an individualized process. Recovery means different things to different people and is often, not linear. For some, recovery means no longer experiencing symptoms of a mental illness or needing to take medication. Others experience recovery as a life-long process, learning to live fully while experiencing the presence of symptoms.

Mental health professionals can assist them in the recovery process by encouraging independent thinking, treating them as equals in planning services, giving them freedom to make their own mistakes, listening to and believing what they say, recognizing their abilities, and working with them to find the resources and services they need.

Having a job often can facilitate recovery. Recovery-oriented employment programs should be person-centered, culturally and linguistically appropriate, responsive to individual need, and should recognize individuals’ strengths and potential that could help them get and keep a job.

Supported work experiences are jobs in integrated work environments that help participants gain skills and experience, and allow them to test job goals.Supported work experiences should include assistance in retaining a job, and also should address non-work critical services (e.g., housing, mental health treatment, and family/friend relationships).

Exposure to employment at the earliest opportunity helps test job choices. It combines involvement in the real-life demands of work with insight and evaluation, examination of barriers, and assessment of possible alternative job choices. Practitioners must help create opportunities for people to succeed and help them see the strides they have already made. Activities that build exposure to the world of work may include:

• Experiencing work for short periods in a supportive setting to build confidence and motivation. Settings can include residential programs, drop-in centers, and mental health programs;
• Discussing elements that contributed to past job success and reinforcing them, while participating in the current work experience;
• Discussing elements that impeded past job success, and developing plans to address them in current or future jobs;
• Enhancing knowledge of alternative job options sharing information, visiting other work sites, and planning to acquire a more preferred job; and
• Reinforcing the hope and belief that employment success is possible by emphasizing current successes (e.g. increased work hours, productivity, attendance).

More information:

United States Department of Health & Family Services Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration: http://nmhicstore.samhsa.gov/

Shaheen, G., Williams, F., and Dennis D., eds. Work as a Priority: A Resource for Employing People who Have a Serious Mental Illness and who are Homeless. DHHS Pub. No. SMA 03-3834. Rockville, MD: Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2003.

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