ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the interactions of mental health in the workplace and how mental health is either supported or sabotaged. It explores the interactions between mental illness and the workplace. Persons with mental illness face a multitude of struggles in regards to applying for jobs, fear of stigmatization and associated behaviours, institutional barriers to employment, and possibly returning to a job that caused the initial mental health issue. Mental health literacy can encourage and rise to the next level where understanding the needs of employees with mental illness in the workplace, the needs of the employer, and the requirements of taking on the challenge actually are a focus of the organization. The chapter presents a positive perspective on hiring and retaining persons with mental illness and the additional benefits they can bring to the workplace. This is a crucial undertaking at a time when industry and organizations are becoming more diverse need to keep their highly skilled workers employed.
