The Business Case for Mental Health Awareness

The Business Case for Mental Health Awareness.  The economic and social cost of mental health problems in the United Kingdom is well documented. In 2002/03 the economic and social cost of mental health problems in England was £77 billion. (SCMH, 2003).  The economic and social cost of mental health problems is greater than that of crime and larger than the total amount spent on all NHS and social services in the UK (HM Treasury, 2005).

Dame Carol Black's 2008 report 'Working for a Healthier Tomorrow' was a major attempt to address these concerns. Legislative review such as the 2005 amendments to the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) highlighted the need to address the massive economic and social attrition behind issues of mental ill-health. In 2005 the Confederation of British Industry was concerned enough to commission its own research.  Stress, anxiety and depression accounted for a third of the 168 million working days lost in the UK for health and related reasons in 2004, translating to a cost of sickness absence of about £4.1 billion (Confederation of British Industry, 2005).

As a result of legislation, employees have more rights and employers more responsibilities relating to the incidence of mental health in the workplace.  Employees who choose to disclose a mental health condition to their employers are strongly protected by legislation and have the right to 'reasonable adjustments' that they may request their employers to make.  In practice, it is still true that people with mental health diagnoses may well feel little confidence in this legislation.  Nonetheless,  their rights are enshrined in law.  Similarly,  employers have a legal responsibility not to discriminate against employees who have disclosed a mental health condition and to make any reasonable adjustments that have been requested.