Mental health at work: blogs and stories

1 in 6 British workers are affected by conditions like anxiety and depression every year. It is a myth that people with mental health problems can’t work. With the right support people with mental health problems perform vital roles in workplaces across the country.

However, mental health stigma and discrimination in the workplace remain an issue. The blogs below are written by people who have experience of mental illness in the workplace and show the different ways people can react.

By writing about their experiences they aim to raise awareness of the issue and challenge stereotypes around something that can affect all of us. Pledge to talk about your experiences of mental health >>

Not looking after employees' mental health is expensive and damaging

Submitted by Outofworkweirdo on Fri, 24/05/2013 - 9:21am

Photo of fire alarm It's been four months since I 'chose' to leave my job because it was felt I wasn’t well enough for my role. It’s the second job I’ve now 'left' in such circumstances and its normal, if not necessarily helpful, to wonder who or what is to blame for this career relapse.

My experience: providing mental health training to probation officers

Submitted by _Charlotte_ on Fri, 10/05/2013 - 12:17pm

Charlotte I remember the first time I stood in front of a room and talked about my mental health.

I was in remission when I began training as a probation officer in 2005. Stability didn’t stop me feeling like a service user; over the years I has seen numerous psychiatrists and been given various psychiatric labels, and I continued to take psychiatric drugs daily.

I was very nervous about going back to work

Submitted by FionaM on Thu, 09/05/2013 - 8:54am

Fiona holding pledge card: "I pledge to talk about my mental health" My mental health issues first started due to bullying in the workplace. My manager would pick up on the tiniest of errors and blow them out of proportion, stand over your shoulder as you wrote emails, correcting mistakes you hadn’t made yet and berate anyone that wasn’t in the office to their colleagues.

I felt like I was fired because of my mental health problems

Submitted by Emma_ on Fri, 03/05/2013 - 11:47am

Emma I’ve been struggling with mental health problems (anxiety and depression) since I was a child but they came on strongly again when I was 18.

At this stage my dad had a nervous breakdown and took time off work. At this point I was not well enough to work either. As I hardly left the house due to my anxiety I had to start caring for my dad as he became very depressed and started to drink a lot.