Employee mental health treatment seeking: Perceptions of responsibility and resilience

ABSTRACT

This study examined how seeking treatment for mental health problems developed as a result of occupational stressors in extreme (military) and typical (civilian) work environments affect perceptions of employee resilience and responsibility for mental health symptoms. Utilizing a 2 × 2 × 2 design, vignettes described either military or civilian employees experiencing mental health symptoms, who had or had not experienced high levels of work stressors, and either did or did not seek treatment. One hundred and seventy undergraduate students then rated the vignette character’s resilience and responsibility for symptoms. Results indicated that stressor exposure decreased perceptions of responsibility for military employees, but not for civilian employees. In addition, employees who sought treatment were rated as more resilient. These results indicate that seeking mental health treatment is not associated with adverse perceptions of the employee by others. Discussion of the results focuses on how getting help for mental health problems can be viewed as a form of self-care that can have positive consequences.

KEYWORDS:

• Employees
• mental health problems
• organizational stressors
• treatment seeking
• vignettes