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125 Int'l Lab. Rev. 605 (1986)
Emotional Disorders and the Labour Force - Prevalence, Costs, Prevention and Rehabilitation

handle is hein.journals/intlr125 and id is 619 raw text is: International Labour Review, Vol. 125, No. 5, September-October 1986 Emotional disorders and the labour force Prevalence, costs, prevention and rehabilitation Mary A. JANSEN * Introduction Estimates of the prevalence of emotional disorders among members of the labour force vary, but it is generally agreed that a high percentage experience some form of emotional disturbance at some time during their working lives. It has been reported that between a quarter and two-thirds of all workplace absences are due to emotional disorders;' in the United States it has been estimated that the overall annual costs in 1974 exceeded $10,000 million,2 and more recent estimates place the annual cost of lost employment due to complete emotional disability at $18,500 million.' The full impact on employees and their families, on co-workers, and the workplace environment is difficult to assess, but reduced productivity, higher employee turnover and increased stress for all involved are some of the obvious effects. The importance of establishing the extent of these disorders among the labour force and setting up effective preventive and rehabilitative vocational programmes is obvious when one considers the number of persons affected. An ILO report has noted that: Mental illness constitutes one of the world's most critical social and health problems. It affects more human lives and wastes more human resources than any other disabling condition. 4 The World Health Organisation has estimated that up to two-fifths of all disability is related to psychiatric disorders.' It has been estimated that, in the United States: Three million people suffer severe mental disorder annually. Of these 2.4 million people become moderately to severely disabled on account of the disorder. And of these, 1.7 million people suffer prolonged severe disability; they constitute the chronically mentally ill population. 6 These data give an indication of the magnitude of the problem and afford a glimpse into the effects of these disorders on workers and their * Dean for Professional Affairs, California School of Professional Psychology, Fresno, California. The author wishes to thank George Bailey, Barbara Feuer, Dan Malloy, Larry Mars, Bob Rosen, Marilyn Schneidermann, Beth Silverman and Paul Widem for assistance with the preparation of this article. Copyright © International Labour Organisation 1986

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