Recession Hit Those with Mental Health Problems the Hardest

That is the title of this article  I am reviewing. Last week we talked about Social Cognition and employment now we will talk about how the recession hit those with mental illness harder than the rest of the population. “Unemployment rates for people with mental health problems rose more than twice as much than for people without mental health problems during the recession, according to new research.” Is it stigma again that is the cause of this problem? It would be some form of why they would not want to hire you because you have a mental illness.

They also found out that: “Researchers from King’s College London also found that this gap in employment rates was even greater for men and for those with low levels of education.  For the study, the researchers collected data in 27 European Union countries from more than 20,000 people in 2006 and again in 2010.  Using the Eurobarometer survey, the assessed mental health, stigmatizing attitudes, socio-demographic information, such as age, gender, education level, and current employment rate.”  This study was done in Europe does it have the same effect on the recession her in the United States?  Either way someone is prejudice against people with mental illness.
The article goes on to say: “At the start of the study, unemployment was at 7.1 percent for people without mental health problems, compared to 12.7 percent for people with mental health problems.  In 2010, this rose to 9.8 percent and 18.2 percent, respectively.  This corresponds to an increase of 5.5 percent for people with mental health problems. The economic recession has had enormous impact across much of Europe, but there is little information about specific impact of the recession on groups who are already vulnerable to social exclusion specifically people with mental health problems.”  That is a lot of people who need money to make it in this world.  It has to be hard knowing just because you have a mental illness they are prejudice against you making any money working.
The article says: “During periods of economic recession, attitudes to people with mental health problems may harden, further deepening social exclusion, …Governments need to be aware of these risks, and employers need to be aware of their legal duty to comply with Equality Act to support people with mental health problems coming into, and staying in, employment.” It should be whether or not there is a recession.  If you would like to work there should be no discrimination.  “Do any of you readers have any experiences related to the impact of the recession on their job hunting or job stability?”