THE BIGGEST barrier to re- entering work for mental health sufferers is confusion and fear, not stigma, a conference in Dundee heard yesterday.

The claim was made as an employment support unit led by Dundee City Council told a gathering of European delegates about the success of a course it developed to help those with mental health problems secure jobs.

Michael Evans, manager of the employment disability unit (EDU), said although more than half of the people with whom they work secure employment, the biggest problem mental health sufferers face is a fear of the system.

“There is a stigma to mental health but we find the biggest issue is with the welfare system,” he said.

“Sufferers fear that if employment does not work out they will be unable to start claiming benefits again and that is why we have a welfare advice service.

“The employers…are great but they need to be supported. We find the biggest problems are confusion and fear about the issues surrounding their right to work.”

Wendy Forouhar, also of the unit, told the gathering the Moving Forward course was the product of a strong partnership between the unit itself, occupational health and Dundee College.

But she stressed they were merely scratching the surface, working with just a small percentage of the estimated 40,000 people in Dundee who suffer from some form of mental illness.

“We work people with people who have all kinds of disabilities but we found that the largest group we were working with was the mental health community and that’s why we developed this course,” she said.

“The success has been down to the partnership between the EDU, the local college and occupational therapy. We are seeing the benefits the partnership can bring.

“But there are 40,000 people in Dundee with some kind of mental health issue. We work with just 450 and the other 39,000-odd are people we can help.”

The EDU is a partnership between Dundee City, Perth and Kinross and Angus councils.