Mental Health Is Essential

One in six South Africans suffers from anxiety, depression or substance abuse, according to the SA Federation for Mental Health. This number does not include the more serious conditions like bipolar disorder and schizophenia.

Often surrounded by prejudice, ignorance and fear, it’s no surprise mental illness is still poorly understood. As a result, many people in the workplace are reluctant to admit they suffer from a mental illness and their behaviour is therefore often misinterpreted as poor work ethic. The World Health Organization predicts that depression will be the second-highest cause of illness by 2020.

This alarming news proves that mental illness is a condition we need to stop concealing. Instead, we need to address it. Thankfully the world is changing and more is being done to bring about a much-needed shift in how we approach mental health. Occupational therapist Lesley Burns has been working in the mental health field for 30 years. Her practice involves getting people with medical conditions back into the workforce. Her patients include people with physical disability caused by injury and people with serious illnesses such as cancer or autoimmune disease, all of which can lead to mental health problems. In rehabilitating these patients, she is able to help employers to retain their employees while also ensuring that disability insurers do not lose out.

Mental illness in the workplace is a reality that can’t be ignored, making understanding and knowing how to manage it an essential skill for modern-day managers. Burns has more than 20 years’ experience in the assessment of adults with all kinds of physical, cognitive and psychological problems, but her special interest has always been psychiatry. After graduating with a degree in occupational therapy from UCT in 1988, Burns practised in the field of psychiatric rehabilitation, working at the Lentegeur Psychiatric Hospital in Cape Town.