WHILE depression and stress are stereotypical workplace illnesses, an increasing number of Scots are dealing with another debilitating condition in silence - dementia.

An estimated 3200 people under the age of 65 have been diagnosed with dementia in Scotland, yet many employers are struggling to provide adequate support to help them stay in their jobs.

New research by the University of the West of Scotland, due to be published in the next fortnight in the Journal of Public Mental Health, emphasises the need for employers to understand the condition better in a bid to help those who want to stay in work.

With a rising retirement age and scientific advances making it easier to spot early signs of dementia the number of people diagnosed in our workplaces is set to increase.

But as it stands many employers have no dedicated policy to help employees with dementia, resulting in many being forced to leave work or struggle to fulfil their duties, lowering their confidence and in some cases aggravating their symptoms further.

The Sunday Herald contacted 13 of the country's main public sector employers - 10 local authorities, Police Scotland, the Scottish Government and NHS Scotland - to determine whether they had specific policies in place for employees with dementia.

Of the 10 organisations which responded none had designated dementia policies, instead using existing ones for mental health and sickness absence.

Some local authorities told us they offered staff help through Occupational Health services, others used policies for those with progressive illnesses including HIV and AIDS to help employees with dementia.

Police Scotland referred staff to general wellbeing officers and pointed them towards online guidance.

The Scottish Government and the NHS use their mental health and wellbeing policy, and have worked with Alzheimer Scotland to raise awareness of the condition with staff. They plan to introduce more of these awareness sessions this year, and offer staff help from counselling and wellbeing officers.

Professor Debbie Tolson, one of the authors of the UWS report into dementia at work and Alzheimer Scotland Professor of Dementia at UWS, interviewed more than a dozen experts across a range of areas including Human Resources, the civil service and the medical profession.

"The consensus from all of these interviews was unless you are a healthcare professional working in mental health services you probably don't know a lot about this," Tolson explained.

"The general steer was that people aren't very aware...there seems to be an ambivalence and uncertainty around 'What is dementia? Is it a disability? What employment legislation applies?' People were unsure.

"The general view was that employers didn't know how to respond well."

At present, people who develop dementia, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or Alzheimers are under no legal obligation to tell their employers.

Initially realising there is a problem can also be tricky, with people confusing their symptoms for stress or exhaustion.

Tolson said: "There is a period of time where people suspect that something is going on and they are not quite themselves.

"Often it is put down to some other reason - we rationalise, we think we're stressed, over-tired, depressed.

"Colleagues may also comment saying they don't seem themselves. People find it difficult to imagine this could possibly be dementia in a younger person because we associate it with old age.

"We are working longer, we are perhaps having several career changes - what happens if you are going into a new work situation is you don't have that job security behind you, you cannot necessarily afford to take time off.

"All of this impacts on how people respond either delaying seeking help or trying to cope in an imperfect situation.

"Employers do reasonably react, if someone appears to be underperforming and they don't understand why, it is not unreasonable for an employer to start asking questions which unfortunately for some people can lead to a dismissal.

"We have heard some difficult and uncomfortable stories of quite unsupportive experiences where the diagnosis hasn't been disclosed. That often seems to result in a relatively rapid withdrawal from the workplace, either by intention or because the employer has said you are no longer fit to do what you are doing in terms of their competence at work."

Scotland's leading Alzheimer's charity, Alzheimer's Scotland, has now called for more recognition of the condition in the workplace and the legal obligations of employers to help their staff.

Jim Pearson, deputy director of policy at Alzheimer's Scotland said: "With the right support, and often small adjustments, many people with dementia can continue to work successfully.

"There needs to be greater awareness of dementia in the workplace so that employers can support employees who have dementia well, and encourage an environment where people can talk more openly about dementia.

"There is also a need for employers to recognise the legal obligations they have, to ensure that employees who have an illness or disability are not discriminated against or treated unfairly, apply equally to people with dementia."

The UWS study also highlights the case of a woman who managed a string of bookmakers before she was diagnosed with dementia in her fifties.

" I couldn't cope with it...the thought of thousands of pounds of money and I was dealing with it..." she told researchers. 'I was terrified that I would give somebody a million pounds, just hand it over. So I just gave in my notice."