Job Stress: Mental Health Myths and Facts

This post is a continuation of  my experiences with mental health myths and facts. All the myths I quote in these posts are taken verbatim from Mental Health Myths and Facts on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services at mentalhealth.gov.

This one is tough for me to write about, so I'll going share some practical tips for managing workplace stress first, and my own thoughts and experiences at the end.

Myth: People with mental health needs, even those who are managing their mental illness, cannot tolerate the stress of holding down a job.

You've likely said or heard someone say, "I'm taking a mental health day." Any job, from doctor to fry cook, can help or hurt our mental health. Difficult coworkers, supervisors, or expectations we put on ourselves can lead to too much stress and diminished mental health. For those with mental illness, these things can be even more difficult. Part of ending the stigma surrounding mental illness should make a "mental health day" just as valid as a sick day for a cold, headache, or stomach bug.

While mental illness can interfere with employment, people with mental illness are no worse at their jobs than other workers. Studies from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) show that workers with mental illness are as productive as other workers. In fact, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal, those prone to anxiety can actually have an advantage in workplace performance.

There are many things you can do for yourself, and many things you can do for others, to help manage workplace stress. Keeping stress at a manageable level improves the environment not just for people with mental illness, but for all employees. When there's too much stress, the quality of work suffers. When there's not enough stress, employees can become lethargic and unmotivated.

Supervisors should help employees manage workplace stress, and employees should advocate for themselves when they are feeling overwhelmed -- especially when they are unable to work or their performance is suffering due to symptoms of mental illness.

Tips for Managing Workplace Stress:

• For employees:
• Take deep breaths
• Talk to your supervisor when you're feeling overwhelmed
• Focus on one thing at a time
• Resolve conflicts
• If possible, avoid people who are usually negative or stress you out

• For employers, supervisors, and coworkers
• Be approachable and open when an employee says she or he is overwhelmed
• Try to look for signs that an employee is struggling
• Show appreciation for employees' work, but try to tailor to individual needs
• If an employ needs accommodations due to a mental illness, don't be judgmental -- treat them like you would treat someone who needed time off or accommodations is physically sick or injured

Websites for more Detailed Strategies:

• Guide to Anxiety in the Workplace for HR
• This article gives workplace mental health statistics and practical advice for both supervisors and employees.
• Report: Anxiety Can Boost Work Performance
• This article summarizes the findings of the a Wall Street Journal Article mentioned above
• American Psychological Association: Coping with stress at work
• Practical strategies for dealing with work stress.

If you deal with anxiety at work, don't overwhelm yourself with all the strategies out there -- that can make you more anxious! Instead, pick one to three strategies and try them for a week or two. If they're helping, keep using them. If they're not helping or not helping enough, consider adding a strategy and/or stopping one you started with.

I suggest starting with deep breathing. It takes a lifetime to master, but has be shown to reduce stress for almost anyone.

If work stress is really affecting your mental health, consider the following:

• Find a therapist who can help you with coping strategies
• Talk to a coworker who will encourage you and not drag you into further negativity
• If you don't think your work environment will improve, start looking for a new job
• If you have a diagnosed mental illness and you and your doctor feel you cannot continue your job, consider taking disability.  Everyone who has paid social security taxes is eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), and some employers give disability insurance to supplement SSDI.

My experience with workplace mental health issues:

Mental illness was the primary or secondary factor in my resignation from two teaching positions. In both of those positions, I started feeling very stressed, and as a result my work and my personal life started to suffer.

The positions felt like they were spiraling out of control because I was feeling both overwhelmed while at the same time suffering from symptoms of bipolar disorder -- "cycling" as we call it in bipolar parlance. As things got more difficult, my mental health continued to deteriorate; increased anxiety, difficulty sleeping, and lack of focus all led to a decrease in performance. In the first instance, several factors led to my resignations.

I knew work was getting unmanageable, but I felt that if I changed jobs I would be letting the students down. I ended up resigning both positions and going to a brief treatment program for bipolar and anxiety (my two mental illness diagnoses are generalized anxiety disorder and bipolar I) after the first resignation, and having a full-blown manic episode right before the second resignation.

I felt awful for leaving both those positions -- especially because I left them abruptly and didn't give them much warning. I wish I could have, but even in retrospect I know I would have left both schools in limbo even longer as I waited to recover from the episodes. In both cases, it took month or more to recover from the episodes, and while I would have liked to give more notice to both the schools, even after I'd recovered I couldn't see myself being able to go back to those positions.

So back to the myth: Although holding down a job can be difficult for those with mental illness, it's not impossible. I'm now in my second year of substitute teaching, and things have been going well. I'm not symptom free every day, and some days symptoms interfere with my performance. I do, however have a number of teachers who contact me when they need a sub, and I haven't missed any work due to mental illness since the school year started.

Thanks for reading. If you have a coping strategy you use to manage your mental health at work, I'd love to hear about it. Comment below or on Facebook.