I'm Doing As Much As I Can: Occupational Choices of Persons with a Severe and Persistent Mental Illness

Abstract

Competitive employment is important for meeting many needs that contribute to health. For persons with a mental illness, entering or re‐entering the workforce is often an unattainable goal. Despite rehabilitation efforts, unemployment rates remain very high. This study used in‐depth, long interviews and member checking to explore what persons with a severe and persistent mental illness do in the absence of competitive employment. The study was designed to discover what supported or hindered their evolving occupational life paths. The major findings of this study were that persons with a mental illness make choices constrained by fear of relapse and socio‐economic realities, to engage in occupations that will maintain or enhance their social connections, and most importantly, their health.