MENTAL ILLNESS HAS REACHED EPIDEMIC LEVELS, AND THE IMPACT IS UNDENIABLE. WITH A PROJECTED INCREASE IN CASES, A SURPRISING TWIST EMERGES IN HOW INDIVIDUALS COPE. THROUGH HER RESEARCH, ANN MIRABITO, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF MARKETING, CHALLENGES PREVIOUS ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE MARKETPLACE AND ITS ROLE IN MENTAL HEALTH.
Globally, we spend over two and a half trillion dollars on treating mental illness or lost productivity from mental illness. So we can see mental illness affects individuals, but also business. Prior research looks at the marketplace as the source of stress. We wanted to look at is the marketplace ever a coping strategy and if so, when and how.
MIRABITO’S RESEARCH FINDS THAT PEOPLE USE THE MARKETPLACE TO COPE WITH THREE TYPES OF STRESS RELATED TO MENTAL DISORDERS.
First is the stress from finding appropriate solutions to manage the mental disorder. Second is the stress from conducting everyday activities. And then third is the stress from managing a stigmatized identity.
What we find exciting about our research is that people actually are turning to the marketplace. People talked about how some retail stores have more calming layouts and more calming lighting than others…have less cluttered displays or have wider aisles, cool eye patches for kids who might have a processing disorder, fun apps to help people cope with the symptoms of mental disorders. People who have mental illness need social support, and they need that support from their friends, they also need it in spaces like the marketplace.
THE BUSINESS REVIEW IS A PRODUCTION OF LIVINGSTON AND MCKAY AND HANKAMER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY.