This is a full answer for the a2 Clinical Psychology course in Edexcel by the individual who recieved the highest mark in the UAE for psychology and recieved an A* - The question answered is 'What are the key issues surrounding mental health in the wokrplace'
Discuss the key question for society you have studied using concepts, theories
and/or research from clinical psychology (20)
My key question : What are the issues surrounding mental health in the workplace?
Individuals who have mental health issues in the workplace can suffer from social isolation.
The guardian reports 51% of employees feel the need to put on a brave face and not inform
others of any issues they suffer. People with schizophrenia may feel alienated and isolated
due to suffering from positive and negative symptoms leading to not sharing their thoughts
and feeling stressed, affecting productivity levels at work. Faris (1924) found that people with
schizophrenia find contact with other individuals highly stressful. This shows that issues of
social isolation can occur in the workplace, which leads to low productivity. Although mental
health issues can cause hindrances in the workplace, negative symptoms of schizophrenia
can be treated through drug treatment, reducing feelings of isolation, as supported by Lally
and MacCabe who found that drugs such as Clozapine can provide up to 60% relief through
reducing both positive and negative symptoms, supporting that issues regarding mental
health in the workplace can be solved through drug treatment.
Individuals who have mental health issues in the workplace can experience prejudice and
discrimination from the management and fellow members. The Guardian found that more
than 80% stated they want more support from their employers, showing they feel isolated
and discriminated against. People with schizophrenia may experience positive symptoms
such as hallucinations and delusions, this would lead to them being labelled as dangerous .
Fazel et al states that most people with schizophrenia aren’t more or less dangerous than an
individual who doesn’t have schizophrenia. This shows that schizophrenics suffer issues of
stigmatisation at the workplace through being labelled as dangerous. Although
schizophrenics are labelled as ‘dangerous’ it doesn’t mean it's a valid label. This is seen in
Kupfer and Kraemer’s study who state these labels are not accurate in most cases, as
clinicians don’t always diagnose accurately due to diagnosis being subjective
People with schizophrenia can suffer from cognitive difficulties which could reflect on their
performance in the workplace. The office of national statistics (2011) found that one-sixth of
the working population experience symptoms which affect the person's ability to work and
function adequately, being reflected on their productivity levels. People with schizophrenia
will therefore have slow processing in the workplace, which would be an issue as individuals
will not be able to complete tasks quickly and may be slow in social settings due to delayed
cognitive thinking of the environment around them. CBT can be used to establish normal
thinking through identifying irrational thoughts and changing them. This is supported by
Bradshaw’s study of a patient called ‘Carol’ who was given CBT for her schizophrenia along
with helping her thoughts of dependency and self isolation. Her life at university was hundred
due to thoughts of hopelessness and helplessness. The study found that she had gotten
better mentally, decreasing symptoms and number of hospitalisations, supporting that CBT
is effective in reducing irrational thinking and cognitive difficulties. However, CBT may not be
an effective enough method for reducing the symptoms or relapse of schizophrenia.
McKenna and Kingdon found that CBT was only superior 2 out of 9 trials in routine treatment
compared to a non biological intervention, suggesting that it may not be as effective as NICE
suggests.
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