In the second part of a series of articles on mental health at work, Dr Greg Couser describes the practicalities for assessing and screening for common mental health disorders in an occupational health context.

Occupational health (OH) professionals encounter mental health issues in their daily practice, either as a primary presenting problem or as a secondary factor contributing to delayed recovery and return to work. The first article in this series explored common mental health disorders and the impact they have in the workplace in terms of reduced productivity, absenteeism, presenteeism, and overall cost1. This second article discusses practically when OH professionals are tasked with recognising mental health issues, providing clinical assessment, and developing initial interventions.

Recognition of mental health conditions
In our clinical training to become OH professionals, we learned about pathology, which is essentially everything that can go wrong with our bodies…

Greg P Couser, MD, MPH, is a consultant at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, US, where he is the medical director of the employee assistance programme. He has formal residency training and board certification both in psychiatry and in occupational medicine.