Coping with mental health conditions at work and its impact on self-perceived job performance

Sophie Hennekam (), Sarah Richard () and François Grima ()
Additional contact information
Sophie Hennekam: Audencia Recherche - Audencia Business School
Sarah Richard: EM Strasbourg - École de Management de Strasbourg = EM Strasbourg Business School
François Grima: University of Paris-East Créteil

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: Purpose This exploratory qualitative study examines both the impact of mental health conditions on self-perceived job performance and how individuals with mental health conditions cope with their conditions at work. Design/methodology/approach A total of 257 responses to a qualitative questionnaire and 17 in-depth interviews with individuals with mental health conditions are analyzed. Findings The findings show that mental health conditions can negatively impact self-perceived job performance in the form of lower quality of one's work, slower pace, and more mistakes. In addition, the findings reveal coping strategies that positively and negatively affect one's performance at work. Strategies that negatively influence one's performance include substance abuse and self-harm, suppressing and hiding one's symptoms, and forcing oneself to continue to work when feeling unwell. Coping strategies that tend to positively affect their performance include accepting one's condition and taking time off, medication and counseling, mindfulness activities, transparent communication, humor, and a compensation strategy. Originality/value A growing number of individuals struggle with mental health conditions at work, impacting both organizations and employees. However, little is known about the influence of mental health conditions on one's performance at work, how individuals cope with their mental health conditions at work, and what effect those coping strategies have on organization-relevant outcomes.

Date: 2020-02-11
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-03232767
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Published in Employee Relations, 2020, 42 (3), pp.626-645. ⟨10.1108/er-05-2019-0211⟩

Downloads: (external link)
https://hal.science/hal-03232767/document (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03232767

DOI: 10.1108/er-05-2019-0211

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().