The Little Blue Book

• People with mental illness experience drug and alcohol problems at higher rates than the general community (with up to 50% having a comorbid drug or alcohol disorder) • People with mental illness and a substance use disorder are at greater risk of self-harm and suicide While drug and alcohol misuse and dependence are, of themselves, clinically recognised mental disorders, they commonly co-occur with anxiety and major depressive disorders. In fact, clinical research shows that anxiety and depression can increase a person’s vulnerability to drug and alcohol misuse and dependence, and to nicotine dependence. And work stress plays a significant role in the incidence and development of these disorders. Work stress, the ‘knock-on’ effect Everyone is different, and we all respond to levels of stress in different ways. But any level of workplace stress can be very dangerous. The evidence on this is clear: workers experiencing psychological distress – whether from trauma, intimidation, overwork, isolation, unreasonable pressure, excessive hours – are more at risk of chronic anxiety and depression, more at risk of substance-use disorders and more at risk of suicide and self-harm. For a community committed to workplace health and wellbeing and the elimination of avoidable risk, there is uncomfortable reading in any of the bald statistics – 13% of depression in males and 17% of depression in women can be sheeted to prolonged or excessive work stress; 1 bullied workers are at double the risk of depression and suicide; around 90% of workers’ compensation claims involving a mental disorder are linked to work-related stress or mental stress; 2 17% of Australian workers report high levels of ‘job burnout’, and so on. (1): www.vichealth.vic.gov.au ; Estimating the Economic Benefits of Eliminating Job Strain as a Risk Factor for Depression; VicHealth, Prof. T. LaMontagne, Dr K. Sanderson. (2) LaMontagne D., Keegel A., et al; (2008). Job strain — Attributable depression in a sample of working Australians: Assessing the contribution to health inequalities. BMC Public Health. CORRELATIONS BETWEEN WORK STRESS, SUBSTANCE-USE DISORDERS & MENTAL ILLNESS RECOGNISING DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, AND OTHER DISORDERS 84