Mental Health and Mental Illness in Organizations: A Review, Comparison, and Extension

Mental health challenges are a ubiquitous workplace concern, with approximately 20% of people having a mental illness and most employees reporting at least one symptom of poor mental health. Yet, research on work and mental health challenges remains fragmented and sparse. We provide a historical overview of workplace attention to mental health versus physical health, noting areas where workplaces’ response to physical health could serve as a model for attention to mental health. We then share results of an interdisciplinary review of 556 studies on mental health challenges and work, wherein we integrate themes in three broad categories: antecedents, outcomes, and interventions for mental health challenges. Our review suggests that a primary impediment to progress is the frequent theoretical and methodological conflation between (poor) mental health and mental illness, with unexplained inconsistency in the temporality, severity, and content of mental health measures across studies. Based on these findings, we present suggestions for critical areas of future research, including increased emphasis on proactive workplace interventions and research that addresses the distinction—and relationship—between mental health and mental illness at work. By elucidating the complex relationships between work and mental health, we hope to propel future research on mitigating and supporting employees’ mental health challenges.