Social Exclusion
According to the book “Mental Health Social Work in Context,” by Nick Gould, studies found a consistent relationship between rates of mental illness and indicators of social disadvantage, including low income, lack of education, unemployment, and low social status. Employment, poverty, and housing are the three elements which correlate to how an individual’s mental health will be, and could be summed up as whether the individual experiences social exclusion. The author believes that there is a strong correlation between mental health problems and lack of employment or underemployment. Also mental health problems experience unequal levels of poverty due to receiving welfare benefits, lack of secure employment, and the difficulties of accessing financial services. Also, there is the disadvantage of people with mental health problems in relation to the quality and security of their accommodations.
Gould mentions in his book that, “Employment is a social issue that has a profound bearing on the mental health of individuals, as both a cause and a consequence of psychological problems, and, as we shall see, more progressive mental health services are increasing seeing unemployment as part of their remit” (Gould 2010). As we can see over the years people with mental illness have suffered from lack of employment due to hospitalization or deteriorating mental health. The book mentions that adults with long-term mental health problems have the highest unemployment rate. These include people with mental illness; phobias panic attacks, depression, and nerve problems. Parents with mental health problems often have inadequate employment due to the labor market disadvantage, as do parents with relapsing problems. Many health and social care services provide services to mental illness and we know they spend significant amounts of money to employ adults with mental health problems.
Some social services provide some kind of training for the unskilled...