Is work good for your mental health?

A subject dear to my heart particularly this month as filling in my ESA (employment and support allowance) paperwork I have worried about the outcome where I may have to go back to work particularly as I’m not fit; but then what is fit for work? (see The Governments understanding gap with ESA )

I have looked again at the statistics released by the DWP (department of work and pensions) and see rather alarmingly that they have restricted the report even further and I have found it impossible to find out how many people are appealing and how many are having their appeals upheld. The current figures show that little has changed.

64% of claimants were entitled to benefit with 39% placed in the WRAG (work related activity group) and 25% placed in the SG (support group). found on page 11 for the last quarter with robust figures Dec 2011 o Feb 2012. If you look at this table it shows the steady increase in the number of people assessed as fit for work.

	Percentage of completed assessment caseloads
	Outcomes of claims where functional assessment has been completed
	Entitled to Employment and Support Allowance:			Fit for Work	Any outcome
National roll-out (monthly)3:	Work Related Activity Group	Support Group	Either group
Mar-11	42%	34%	76%	24%	100%
Apr-11	39%	31%	71%	29%	100%
May-11	37%	30%	67%	33%	100%
Jun-11	38%	29%	66%	34%	100%
Jul-11	41%	28%	69%	31%	100%
Aug-11	43%	25%	68%	32%	100%
Sep-11	43%	24%	67%	33%	100%
Oct-11	44%	23%	67%	33%	100%
Nov-11	43%	23%	66%	34%	100%
Dec-11	41%	23%	64%	36%	100%
Jan-12	38%	25%	64%	36%	100%
Feb-12	37%	28%	65%	35%	100%

So despite the better press it seems that I still have just as much of chance of being put out to work. Whether that means I or anyone else are more or less likely to be incorrectly assessed remains to be seen and as there doesn’t appear to be any data on how many people are appealing or whether decisions are being up held it’s anybody’s guess.

That aside would going back to work improve my mental health?

Well I would say not especially as once I had given up work my symptoms decreased, but is it good for people in general?

Well some would say yes and if you look at this report where it was found that of based on interviews with 2,136 16-to-25-year-olds

 The report reveals that while 27 per cent of young people in work feel down or depressed 'always' or 'often', this increases to almost half (48 per cent) among NEETs (not in employment, education or training)

It certainly appears so for young people. I guess having had so many years of people telling me one thing and then finding out that for me it had only made my problems worse I am somewhat sceptical. That for some people it definitely helps I don’t doubt as I have seen many gain in confidence and self worth however how widespread is this ‘better off with work’ feeling?

Well this can be found on the royal college of psychiatrist’s website

Studies show that work is generally good for health. As well as a financial reward, it gives many of us self-esteem, companionship and status.

There is good evidence that being out of work or 'workless' is bad for your health. People who are unemployed have poorer physical and mental health overall. They consult their GP more, are more likely to be admitted to hospital, and have higher death rates. The figures are stark. For example, people who are unemployed for more than 12 weeks are between 4 and 10 times more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety. Unemployment is also linked with increased rates of suicide. People who are ill are also more likely to be unable to work. But, the consensus is that being 'workless' is the cause, and poor health is the effect.

Some studies go so far as to conclude that the risk to health of being out of work, in the longer term, is greater than the risk of other killer diseases such as heart disease.

Returning to work after a period of illness, including mental ill-health, actually helps recovery and is the best way to prevent long-term sickness. The health status of people of all ages improves when they move off benefits and into work. This is true for people with mild or severe mental health problems. It is not surprising then, that the vast majority of people who are out of work, and use mental health services, want to return to or to start work.

This assumes that your work is safe and satisfying. Some workplaces are unhealthy, and may have helped to contribute to or exacerbate mental ill-health in the first place. So returning to work or starting to work after a period of mental ill-health has to be the right work, in the right place, with support from colleagues, carers and health professionals.

I find it interesting though that they talk at the beginning about work, whether paid or unpaid and then quote figures about people who are unemployed...since unemployment and being un-working is not the same thing. For instance does a mother not work when she is looking after her child although she may not be employed to do so?

This might seem strange but if worklessness is so bad then how come so many of our elderly is living such long lives. I mean really they have been work less for many years and they seem to cope quite well. Granted the older you get the more likely you are to suffer from depression but still if you’re talking being out of work for 12 weeks or more before they are 4 to 10 times more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety I would have thought that there would be a lot more people suffering in their old age.

I have glanced over the summary of results from the DWP’s, Is work good for your health and well-being? Document and in their provisos section after their conclusion that on average work is good for you well being it states

Beneficial health effects depend on the nature and quality of work (though there is insufficient evidence to define the physical and psychosocial characteristics of jobs and workplaces that are ‘good’ for health);

Which kind of suggests they have no real idea; it helps on average but they don’t know why, which is really going to help people when they come to choosing a job/ workplace and as the royal college also stated it matters that you get the right work/ work place. I’m still ill at ease with the idea of going into a workplace without knowing if it doesn’t work out that you can give it up without sanctions from the benefits agency and I am sure that many others also feel this way.

However the question still remains as to whether work because I see on the one hand we have an elderly population that doesn’t seem to suffer any of the so called ill effects of being out of work despite being so for many years and the working age population that certainly is being affected by them and I wonder whether the relationship between work and good health isn’t far more complicated than first thought.

There are many things that could contribute such as

1.    A secure income to live on i.e. having a pension

2.    Public opinion about you should be working as opposed to contributing

3.    Current level of poverty versus surroundings and work being a way to change that

4.    Contact with people outside of family and the ability to do so when not working of working age

5.    Public opinion on worth of task, for instance changing attitudes to stay at home mums, or carers for relatives

6.    Current economic instability

But then maybe none of that matters; maybe the overriding factor is about occupation and worth and once retired people are finding occupation without a job where as those of working age are not, they are just looking for work. And since they have worked and got a pension they don’t have the push of the knowledge that they should be working, that it is expected of them and they are not like those of working age.