Before It’s News – by Chanel Ali
Betty Tsamis, owner of Tsamis Law Firm, says that depression is the leading cause of disability for Americans between the ages of 15 to 45. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) claims that anxiety disorders which lead to depression affect 40 million adults in the U.S., or about 18 percent of the population. Tsamis Law Firm specializes in personal injury and employment cases, and Betty Tsamis wants to raise awareness of mental disabilities that are often overlooked and stigmatized in the workplace.
“Depression is the leading cause of disability amongst Americans,” Betty Tsamis says. “It is important that the disorder is given the respect it deserves and is observed by management in the workplace.”
Young working fathers most commonly struggle with signs of depression. USA Today reports that depression symptoms increase by 68 percent during the first five years of raising a child. “There’s been a significant body of literature describing the effect of the mother’s depression on child development, and the health care system has tried to rise to the challenge of identifying mothers with depression,” says Craig Garfield, lead author of the study. “Fathers have not been on the radar until recently.”
Up to 10 percent of new fathers show signs of depression, according to Garfield.
Betty Tsamis stresses that depression isn’t just a personal problem. A depressed father can affect the wellbeing of his entire household. In fact, Garfield’s study found that dads battling depression use corporal punishment more frequently, and spend less time reading to and interacting with their children. This directly impacts a child’s early language and reading development. These fathers are also more likely to be stressed and neglectful of their children.
Because depression affects more than just the individual, Tsamis says it’s important for employees and managers to work together when it comes to treatment. Jolene Robertson and Sara Primeau of Perdue University’s Employee Assistance Program say that one in five employees will struggle with depression at some point in their lives, although many don’t seek help or tell their employers.
The American Psychiatric Association found that, in 2002, untreated depression costs employers up to $44 billion a year. Twenty percent of that cost comes from absenteeism. The other 80 percent comes from employees who come to work but aren’t productive. Decreased productivity, poor attitude, and lack of cooperation are some of the biggest ways that depression negatively affects employers. “When one person in a work group is depressed and unable to keep up with their usual pace, the group suffers and morale is negatively affected,” Roberson and Primeau write.
This is why it benefits employers to make better accommodations for their employees’ mental health, says Betty Tsamis. The Americans with Disabilites Act (ADA) now requires employers to help and support workers with mental struggles like depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia.
“First and foremost,” Tsamis says, “mental health issues are the largest emerging issues growing in the ADA, but they are one of the more elusive family of disorders. Despite being difficult to understand and manage in the workplace, the ADA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodation which in some instances includes modified work schedules or locations and unpaid time off, often time off beyond that allowed by the Family and Medical Leave Act.”
Matthew Mientka of Medical Daily reports that hiring and supporting workers with depressive, anxiety, or psychotic disorders ends up helping employers, not hurting them.
“Often among the most brilliant and creative, people with bipolar disorder offer employers a characteristically mixed bag of high productivity followed by mood crashes sometimes disruptive to colleagues,” Mientka writes. But he says the right work environment can encourage the brilliant creativity while downplaying the mood swings. Allowing flexible hours, paid leave, a self-paced workload, and modifying some responsibilities are just a few ways for employers to create a supportive environment that fosters the positives bipolar can bring.
Even those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who are often considered unemployable can be a boon to the workplace. According to Mientka, “More U.S. employers are finding a use for such workers in jobs requiring significant attention to detail, such as software and customer service jobs.” Software company SAP is one employer actively recruiting ASD patients to fill similar detail-oriented roles. Freddie Mac also offers internships in information technology to individuals with ASD.
“Workers with mental disabilities bring mental diversity,” says Mientka, “a much needed difference in perspective that often fosters creativity.”
Betty Tsamis says that it’s time for the workplace stigma around mental disorders to end. The ADAA reports that major depressive disorder affects almost 7 percent of the U.S. population aged 18 or older. As stress, anxiety, and depression become more common in the workplace, individuals should not be afraid or ashamed to reach out. Psych Central reports that many employees fear retribution or losing their jobs if they seek treatment for their depression.
New workplace standards from the ADA are a step in the right direction for encouraging depressed employees to get the help they need. Betty Tsamis and her team at Tsamis Law Firm see a positive future for individuals who are diagnosed with depression and other mental health conditions.
This article is another attempt by the U.S. Government to get as many people as possible to declare workplace disability in order to go on permanent disability through Social Security…then lose their gun rights for being ‘depressed’.
DO NOT FALL FOR THIS COMMUNIST TRICK!