A study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry reported that almost 11 per cent of adolescents who received psychiatric diagnoses were excluded from the education and labour market for at least five years in their early adulthood. About 55,273 participants were a part of the study and researchers found that they had been rejected based on their intellectual disability and emigration. Teenagers who hadn’t completed their upper secondary education and had been diagnosed with mental health disorders dealt with long-term exclusion.
In the study, long-term exclusion was defined as a period spent outside education or paid employment that lasted for a minimum of five years. This is concerning because social exclusion can harm one’s mental health further. Think loss of confidence, low self-esteem, and undue psychological stress.
The solution? The government can help people with disabilities find and keep a job and flourish in their careers. Social services and psychiatrists can help individuals by easing them into the labour market and providing them with necessary counselling, education, job placement, and physical or mental restoration.