Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Careers, Workplace and Religion
Mental health: an economic issue, not just a health issue

Mental health: an economic issue, not just a health issue

Last updated on: August 19, 2014 at 2:03 pm by Mission:Work

Mental health: an economic issue, not just a health issue 2014-08-19T14:03:00-05:00 Mission:Work

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Recently Danielle Kurtzleben had this to say for online publisher Vox Media about mental health and the economy:

Only a limited set of topics bring mental illness into the news. Obamacare’s mental health coverage requirements briefly brought mental health into the spotlight. And every time there’s a mass shooting in the US (disturbingly regularly, as it turns out), it also sparks a conversation about mental illness. But another American crisis, the persistently weak economy, is also a mental health issue. And it’s a mental health issue that often goes unspoken.

Mental illness is tightly bound up with economic well-being, as it turns out. Being out of work hurts mental health, and severe mental illness keeps lots of people out of work. And even more upsetting, growing up poor can make a person more susceptible to some forms of mental illness, creating a sort of vicious cycle. Here are three ways mental and economic well-being play into each other.

1) Unemployment makes for mental health problems

Losing a job often causes depression–and when people lose a job, they often lose health insurance and thus access to mental health treatment.

2) Poverty and mental illness can create a vicious cycle

This economic-psychiatric cycle can be even more insidious, spanning generations. Being poor — particularly as a child — can make mental health problems even more likely down the road.

According to one 2013 paper from researchers at Cornell University, children raised in poverty were more likely to act out aggressively or exhibit “learned helplessness” — a condition in which people believe and act as if there is no escape from their illness. Another 2013 study found that poor housing is connected with later emotional and behavioral problems.

Danielle adds that these things don’t always go together, but poverty increases the probability of mental illness while decreasing access to care:

Poverty doesn’t always make for mental problems. Many people born in poor or economically stressful settings will end up perfectly healthy mentally, she adds, but the stress of growing up in poverty can cause mental illness to present itself….the common phrase to describe this phenomenon is that “genetics loads the gun, but environment pulls the trigger.”

3) Severe mental illness makes for very, very high unemployment

“People with severe mental illness have an unemployment rate of 85, 90 percent,” estimates Brent Peterson, vice president of development and marketing at Thresholds, a mental health service provider in Chicago. And though illness makes work difficult for some of these people, he says many capable workers are excluded from work by the stigma of mental illness — too often, employers think mental illness means cognitive deficiencies.

Ironically, such people often want to work for their own well-being:

Working can, in fact, be part of a structure that can make an illness more livable. “Work is a very, very important part of recovery for people,” says Ron Homberg, director of policy and legal affairs at the National Alliance on Mental Illness. “When you ask someone with a serious mental illness what would be important for them, work is right at the top of the list.”

The article simply points out these facts for employers and helping professionals to consider. But as Christians, we ought to think about them more deeply. What can we do to help people trapped in these kinds of situations? If you are speaking from this kind of a place in your own journey, what could the church do to help you?

Image: “Feeling Sad” by Just Ard, used under a Creative Commons license.

Faith and the Workplace

Previous Post

July 8, 2014

Is anything too small for God?

Next Post

July 10, 2014 What is this blog all about?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Art Audio posts Bible and Work Book Review Books Budgeting Calling Common Good Community Development Conferences Discipleship Economics Entrepreneurship Ethics Faith and Family Faith and the Marketplace Faith and the Workplace faith and work History of Work and Vocation Leadership Local Church Meaning New Blogger News Prayer Relationships Seminaries Theology of Work Uncategorized Video posts Vocation Worship Resources

Select a Month April 2026 October 2025 September 2025 July 2025 April 2025 January 2025 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 May 2024 March 2024 February 2024 December 2023 November 2023 August 2023 July 2023 April 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 May 2022 April 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 June 2021 May 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 January 2020 December 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 April 2018 March 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: Paul instructed Titus that the grace of God teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions.

Select your answer to see how you score.

TRUE FALSE