Should you disclose a mental illness to an employer?

by Jen

539382_work_work_work If you’ve been diagnosed with a mental illness, the first thing you should know regarding your employer is that you are not required to tell them. This is your own personal business, and should they ever find out, they are not allowed to punish you in any way for not having told them sooner.

That said, in some situations you may benefit from disclosing it. This is an intensely personal choice with no right or wrong answer. Here are some considerations to mull over.

Why are you considering telling him or her? The most common reason is because you’re concerned your illness – or the various medications you may have to try over the years – will affect your job performance. This is certainly a valid reason for discussing this issue with your employer. If you aren’t concerned about it affecting performance, then they might question why you brought it up and conclude that you’re looking for attention or sympathy. Which – unless you have the sort of relationship where you talk about that sort of thing – might not look so good.
Is your boss understanding? Do you know of other employees who have told your boss about their own mental illnesses, and felt the boss was supportive? Or has he or she been understanding about personal difficulties in the past? It’s getting more rare as people learn how common chemical imbalances are, but there are still some people out there who think mental illnesses are just excuses for bad behavior, or that you just need to find religion, or who think their own experiences of temporary depression or reckless behavior compare to your ongoing battle, and if they overcame it without treatment, why shouldn’t you?
How secure is your job? This may be hard for you to assess if your illness affects your perspective. If you have any concerns that disclosing mental illness might put you at the top of the list for layoffs next time your company downsizes, then maybe disclosure isn’t in your best interests.
Do you need accommodation? If mental illness does affect your job performance and there’s something the employer can do to help you perform better, some employers are more than happy to try to accommodate you.

You have to weigh the pros and cons. For example, if you are concerned that you might yell at a co-worker or hug someone a bit too enthusiastically, these are potential causes for termination. It might be in your best interest to let your employer know that you’re taking every step you can to prevent such outbursts so that they’ll know where the behavior is coming from when they address the issue. In a small office environment, some people find great security in letting the whole staff know about their mental illness, when everyone is understanding and willing to cut them some slack.

But if it’s not likely to cause you to do anything worthy of termination, it probably won’t benefit you to share this incredibly personal information.

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Posted in Do It Yourself on March 30, 2008
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