Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2018 in the subject Psychology - Cognition, grade: A, , language: English, abstract: Mental illness is a term that varies in its breadth and depth but is associated with an emotional or behavioral disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Approximately one in four people in the general population are affected by mental illness at some point in their lives (Kessler, Merikangas & Wang, 2008; World Health Organization (2001). Naturally, mental illness is associated with functional impairments that interrupt life activities (New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, 2003). Specifically, severe mental illness often impairs one's capacity to choose, obtain and keep a job and to earn a living (Tsang, Lam, Ng & Leung, 2000). Furthermore, WHO (2007) viewed the complementary condition of mental health as a state of well-being that allows someone to work. It is recognized that there are critical barriers to employment for people with mental illness (Lysaker, Davis, Bryson & Bell, 2009). These include difficulties with interpersonal relationships and with the completion of tasks at work. There are concomitant issues in coping with stigma and work stress as well as low levels of self-efficacy or self-defeating beliefs (Marwaha & Johnson, 2004).