We don’t know why this woman is so upset, but being persistently upset at work might qualify as an impairment—a significant reduction in a person’s ability to function in some important area of life, such as work. Researchers have attempted to measure the effects of impairment associated with psychological disorders on the ability to function at work: For every 100 workers, an average of 37 work days per month are lost because of reduced productivity or absences due to psychological disorders (Kessler & Frank, 1997).