Employment and Mental Health

Discussing the way social determinants of health and psychological factors influence on the physical and mental wellbeing of an individual

The social determinant of health refers to the conditions in which individuals are born, live their lives, grow, age, and work. These circumstances are shaped by the distribution of power, money, and resources at local, national, and global levels. These determinants are major contributors to inequalities in health status. Employment is considered a social determinant of health and a psychological factor that influences both physical and mental well-being. This essay will explain how employment affects the physical and mental health of individuals, highlighting the importance of understanding these dynamics for effective healthcare dissertation help.

Employment is an agreement between an employee and an employer. The employee offers services in exchange for payment and other benefits (Ruiz et al., 2017). Employment acts as a social determinant of health that affects mental health because employed people are generally accorded more respect in society compared to unemployed individuals. This perception is based on the idea that unemployment results from personal flaws (Davidson and Davidson, 2016). This can lead unemployed people to experience negative emotions and self-perceptions, making them feel they lack value in life.

Employment can also cause individuals to experience stress, depression, and other mental health issues. Work-related problems such as tight deadlines, sudden changes in duties, inadequate work environments, and insufficient skills can all contribute to stress (Ebert et al., 2016). Tight deadlines can cause confusion about how to complete high-quality work within a short timeframe. Fear of missing deadlines can lead to stress and depression about performance, negatively affecting mental health by making it difficult to control emotions in social situations.

Sudden changes in duties and a lack of proper job skills can lead employed individuals to experience mental stress that adversely affects both their physical and mental health. Stress can make it difficult to control emotions, feelings, and normal behavior. It can also lead to increased blood pressure and the development of diabetes (Smallwood and Haydam, 2016). A recent survey by Labour Force UK revealed that 8% of employed individuals report experiencing stress due to sudden changes at work, and 21% experience stress due to other reasons such as job insecurity, insufficient skills, lack of resources, and problems solving abilities (www.hse.gov.uk, 2018). Job insecurity can lead to negative mental health conditions that deteriorate physical health. This is because job insecurity acts as a stressor, causing anxiety, which is directly linked to increased blood pressure and eventually cardiovascular disease (Mucci et al., 2016).

Heavy workloads experienced during employment can negatively influence both mental and physical health. Increased workloads can lead to less time for relaxation and sleep, which can contribute to high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, improper immune system function, and appetite management issues, along with the increased release of stress hormones. Individuals require proper sleep to allow the body to heal damaged cells and manage internal functions effectively (Pan et al., 2017). In the UK, the Labour Force survey revealed that 44% of employed individuals reported experiencing mental and physical health issues as a result of workload (www.hse.gov.uk, 2018).

The violence, bullying or threats at work is seen to be one of the key reasons behind mental health issues experienced by people due to employment (Hansen et al. 2018). This is because violence or ill-treatment of the employed individuals at work makes them lose their value and develop anxiety as well as distress out of threatening to work which indicates deterioration of their normal psychological and emotional state. As per the survey by Labour Force UK, 13% of individuals experience depression, anxiety or stress as a result of violence or bullying at work (www.hse.gov.uk, 2018). The violence or bullying at employment also affects the physical health of the individuals out of their psychological health condition of stress and anxiety by leading the individuals to experience stroke, heart failure and other nature of cardiovascular diseases (Jood et al. 2017). The employment helps the individuals to income and become economically independent to avail everyday needs and health treatment required for ensuring healthy living. However, unemployed people often lack proper finances required to support their physical and mental health conditions. Thus, it negatively affects their health status as they live with illness making them experience early dismissal (Harrison and Taren, 2018).

The discrimination at work is one of the reasons behind employment negatively affecting the mental health of individuals. This is because discrimination at work leads the employed personnel who are providing valuable contribution at work being unable to receive proper remunerations and appraisal. It leads the employed individual experience lack of value making them feel depression out which they are emotionally unstable to contribute and work properly which in turn makes the individuals be regarded as mentally ill. The risky work environment leads the employed people develop anxiety to work properly because of their fear of losing life and facing fatal accidents (Platt et al. 2016). In this relation, employment leads individuals develop mental illness like unnecessary anxiety that hindering their health condition. This is because any form of anxiety leads to increase blood pressure level and cause cardiovascular disease.

The depression and stress experienced by individuals due to employment results the individuals to execute substance abuse that has negative impact on their physical health. This is evident as stress at work leads individuals to smoke, drink alcohol, inject harmful drugs and others. It is done by the people who are employed with the intention to relieve them of stress and depression so that they can be at peace. However, the substance abuse by the individuals such as smoking tobacco causes individuals to experience COPD, lung diseases and others due to deposition of nicotine in the airways which leads them to be unable to breathe properly (Wheaton et al. 2015). The consumption of alcohol by the employed individuals to get relieved of stress leads them to cause damage to the liver cells resulting in scaring of liver. Further, increased alcohol consumption leads individuals to develop alcoholic hepatitis and mutation of the cell which may even lead the person to develop liver cancer (Kanuri et al. 2016). The liver has the key job to filter blood and produce bile which is important for proper functioning of the body (Jones et al. 2015). However, the liver damage caused due to increased alcohol consumption by the employed individuals out of stress disrupts their physical health.

The above discussion informs that employment is one of the social determinants of health that is able to influence both physical and mental health of the individuals. This is evident as the people who lack employment are seen to experience stress and depression as a result of lack of respect and able to attain economic stability. The employment deteriorates the mental health of the employed people by making them develop stress, anxiety and depression as a result of work pressure, tight deadline, insecurity at job and other issues experienced at work. The employment negatively influences the physical health of the individuals by making the lack of proper physically active, get affected by harmful substance, execute substance abuse and others.

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