Understanding mental disorders in women in the workplace to mitigate deleterious effects

Abstract

Mental illness in the workplace is not a new problem. As long as there have been jobs and people working them, mental illness likely has crept in. Some might dismiss mental illness as a sign of weakness in someone who they believe should not be working, or attribute it to cases of women trying to forge a path in a male dominated world who succumb to the stress and pressure. Given that most of any population will be employed at one time or another, dealing with mental illness in the workplace is a requirement of showing up to work. Women, by virtue of being half of our population and a traditionally underserved or marginalized subset in regard to workplace equal treatment, face unique challenges that require better understanding. We are focused on understanding how mental disorders impact working women, and how mental health professionals can best understand this global phenomenon in order to mitigate the deleterious effects and improve occupational functioning.