Study finds mental illness impacts employment prospects - WXOW News 19 La Crosse, WI – News, Weather and Sports |

One in every four Americans lives with some kind of mental illness.

Australian researchers found the stigma of mental illness often has a greater impact on employment prospects than physical disability or illness.

"All of us have individual needs and I think we shouldn't be limited by a diagnosis in what our potential could be. That's part of mental health is feeling valued in a community," Patty Jo Severson, Health Educator, Department of Behavior Health, Gundersen Lutheran said.

The same study found mental illness is not associated with poorer job performance.

72 percent of small and medium businesses that hired a person with a mental illness say they had a positive experience.