In mental disorders, the symptoms are long-lasting and affect the ability to function, interpersonal relationships and the ability to work. On this page, we have gathered information about the most common mental disorders in people of working age and their impact on work ability.

Depression

Anyone can feel temporarily depressed or have other temporary depression symptoms. Major depression, however, is a disease that is diagnosed by a doctor and where the symptoms are longer lasting and significantly affect the ability to function. Depression is a common illness. 5–7 percent of Finns suffer from depression annually.

The onset of depression is influenced by many factors, including hereditary and acquired biological predisposition, predisposing personality traits and triggering factors, such as changes in life. The prognosis for recovery is good when effective treatment is started early.

Symptoms of diagnosed depression occur daily without interruption for at least two weeks and the symptoms are significant.

The patient must have at least four of the following symptoms:

• decreased mood
• inability to experience pleasure
• exceptional fatigue
• decreased self-confidence
• unreasonable self-accusations
• repeated thoughts of death or suicidal thoughts
• concentration difficulties
• slowness or agitation
• sleep disorders as well
• changes in appetite

At worst, the symptoms can include a disturbance in the perception of reality and self-destructiveness. In the treatment of depression, psychotherapy, medication and neuromodulation treatments are used, such as ECT treatment, direct current stimulation or magnetic stimulation.

Burnout

Burnout is a disorder that develops as a result of prolonged work stress. It includes severe overall fatigue, cynicism and reduced commitment to work. Stress in itself is not dangerous if there are sufficient opportunities for recovery. Work stress means that the person tries to adapt to the load. In case of burnout, adaptation is no longer possible and recovery is not successful. The state of stress drags on over time and leads to exhaustion.

Stress is usually caused by work demands, such as too much work, conflicting or unclear roles or goals, insufficient influence opportunities and lack of social support, perceived injustice and insecurity.

Stress can also be caused by the employee’s characteristics, for example the demands on oneself or on the job and a strong sense of duty. Even the workplace’s small or disadvantageous methods of stress management, including neglect of breaks and continuously long working days can cause stress.

Burnout is not classified as an actual disease. However, burnout and its symptoms are associated with the risk of falling ill with, for example, depression, sleep disorders, substance abuse disorders and stress-related somatic diseases.

Anxiety syndrome

Anxiety is in many cases a relevant reaction to possible threatening situations or uncertainty. Anxiety disorders, on the other hand, are illnesses that are diagnosed by a doctor. In the case of anxiety disorders, the symptoms are severe and long-lasting and they limit both psychological and social functioning. Anxiety disorders occur in 1–2 percent of the Finnish population. Anxiety disorders are diseases that arise in connection with biological, psychological and social factors.

The syndrome includes an abnormally strong sense of threat and anxiety that occurs episodically or continuously and that may be regulated by means of avoidance behavior. The syndrome often also causes physical symptoms, such as palpitations, shortness of breath or tremors.

Anxiety disorders, such as fear of squares, panic syndrome, social phobia and generalized anxiety disorder cause a deterioration in functional ability and quality of life. These can be reduced by appropriate treatment. As treatment, psychotherapy, drug treatment or a combination of both is used.

Substance abuse disorder

A substance abuse disorder refers to a situation where the use of intoxicants causes a person health and/or social damage. Addiction disorders are associated with increased tolerance and withdrawal symptoms. The use of intoxicants can in itself cause or be related to various psychological symptoms. Such can be, for example, changeable mood, anxiety, sleep disorders and depression. In the first place, the addiction disorders should be treated.

It is also possible that the person has a severe psychiatric illness, such as bipolar disorder and severe substance abuse disorder. Simultaneous treatment of both disorders is then assumed.

Bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder is a long-term mental disorder that appears as varying periods of illness with depression, hypomania, mania or mixed states and intermediate phases with little or no symptoms. Mania refers to a state in which the person is very active, lively, restless, talkative, energetic and sleeps little. The person is not himself aware of his deviant state and in a manic phase can make decisions that lead to many different kinds of problems.

Bipolar disorder usually affects young people, but it can occur at any age. The incidence of bipolar disorder is about 1 percent.

Personality disorders

Personality disorders are relatively common. According to estimates, 5–10 percent of adults suffer from various personality disorders. The emergence of personality disorders is influenced by various hereditary and embryonic factors, identification with parental behavior and various experiences and traumas during childhood.

The central feature of personality disorders is a stubborn and rigid way of experiencing and behaving that arose already during adolescence and that causes suffering or is otherwise harmful to the person. In various personality disorders, the person may have problems observing or interpreting their own or other people’s feelings and thoughts. Problems can also be caused by the strength or changeability of emotional expressions, exposure to impulsive behavior or difficulties in interaction.

Psychosis

Psychosis is a mental disorder in which the perception of reality is impaired and the person has trouble distinguishing between what is reality and what is not. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between reality and the ideas in one’s own head.

The psychotic symptoms often include hallucinations and delusions.

There are different types of psychosis, for example unspecified psychosis, reactive psychosis, drug-related psychosis or long-term psychosis, i.e. schizophrenia. A psychosis can be short-lived, transitory and does not always affect all activities. By contrast, long-term psychosis refers to various psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a multifaceted mental illness that appears in young adulthood. The progression of the disease can be prevented through early identification and early treatment. Schizophrenia appears in about 1.3 percent of the population and makes up about 36 percent of all psychoses.

Preliminary symptoms of schizophrenia are often anxiety, depression and a reduction in functional capacity. The symptoms can last for days or years before the onset of schizophrenia. When the preliminary symptoms develop into psychosis, the person has severe distortions in thought and perception, delusions and hallucinations, as well as abnormal emotional expression, such as incoherent speech, peculiar behavior or agitation.

The emergence of schizophrenia can be understood based on the stress-vulnerability model. According to the model, schizophrenia breaks out in a person who is prone to the disease as a result of either internal or external stress. The tendency may be hereditary or acquired during early development or both.