“They Say I’m Mentally Ill”: Self-stigma, Anticipated Discrimination, and Symptom Severity in Association with Perceived Work Ability

Many working adults must contend with the labelling effect of having a diagnosed mental illness. These employees must navigate both stigma and impairment in the workplace, which may affect their perceived ability to continue working in their current job. The current study tested potential predictors (symptom severity, anticipated discrimination, and internalized stigma) of perceived work ability. Participants had a diagnosed mental illness and were employed in the United States. Data were collected from Amazon’s MTurk, with recruitment screening from CloudResearch and additional quality controls built into the Qualtrics surveys (e.g., captchas and attention checks). Respondents completed two self-report surveys, one week apart. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), symptom severity and anticipated discrimination were found to be negatively associated with perceived work ability, but internalized stigma did not. Results lay the groundwork for future research, including intervention studies designed to support the work ability of employees with mental illness.