Past, Present, and Future Labor Market Participation Among Patients Admitted to Hospital With Concurrent Substance Use and Mental Health Disorder, and What We Can Learn From It

The study shed light on the long run developments on the labour market, and that the aggregate self-support of patients with a concurrent substance use and mental health disorder are halved in 20 years. Hence, these patients may have unused potential for recovery in terms of contributing to the society. Objective The aim of the study is to investigate the labor market participation of patients with concurrent substance use and mental health disorder before treatment, as well as the strength of the barriers to re-enter the labor market. Methods The study population is composed of individuals with concurrent substance use and mental health disorder at a psychiatric unit in 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011, and 2016. The number of self-supported years 20 years back in time, as well as present and subsequent employment, was calculated. Results From 1996 to 2016, there was a decrease by 43.8% in self-supported years before treatment and by 36.4% in the fraction of patients working at the time of admission. Conclusions The results point to increasing difficulties with regard to labor market attachment among individuals with mental illnesses.