How to Handle Mental Illness At Work: Leave and Accommodations

My own depressive episodes sneak up on me. In the beginning, I brush it off as a bad day. Then one bad day turns into two, and then it’s a week later, and I’m still having bad days. And they’re getting worse. And to be frank, I really don’t want to deal with it. My first instinct is to minimize and hope it goes away, in part because I hate admitting that I have limitations that interfere with my professional life. This, of course, is completely the wrong way to go about things; ignoring problems doesn’t make them go away, and the longer I wait to admit that I need help, the bigger the hole is out of which I have to climb.

Accepting that you need help can be hard, especially if you are an overachiever who derives much of your identity and self-worth from your professional accomplishments. But this acceptance is critical; what threatens your ability to work and, more importantly, your quality of life isn’t treatment; it’s your illness, and there is no shame in that. Treatment is what will get you back to being able to perform the way you want.

Consider what you need to improve your mental health. For some, the answer is simple: time off work to seek treatment. For many people whose psychiatric disturbance is severe enough to take leave from work, a residential mental health treatment program is the best option. The intensity of care allows you to make rapid gains toward recovery, alleviating suffering and helping you get better as soon as possible. Following treatment, you may want a graduated return to work to avoid sudden stress that can contribute to relapse.

For others, the answer may be both less drastic but more complex forms of short or long-term accommodation to stay in the workplace but create a healthier work environment or allow you to participate in self-care practices outside of work. This could include altered work hours, changing your workload, or even changing where you work. For example, I used to spend my days in a dark and very cold room while working in the television industry; it was dark because some operators found it easier to see our video monitors that way, and it was cold because we used industrial air conditioners to keep the equipment from overheating. For someone whose depressive episodes are very seasonal, spending all day in what was essentially simulated winter was not helpful, to say the least. But there was technically no reason I had to work in that room, so I requested to be moved to a warm, well-lit area that significantly improved both my mood and my ability to concentrate on my work. For you, it might be moving to a desk by a window or to a quieter area. What matters is that the solutions make sense for you.

Talking to an employer about needing time off can be intimidating and make you feel vulnerable both emotionally and professionally. It can be tempting to put it off as long as possible and try to power through your illness to minimize disruption to your work life, but this is likely the wrong way to go. Instead of avoiding the issue, be upfront with your employer. That doesn’t mean disclosing the nature of your illness, but it does mean telling them what you need to support your well-being based on the list you made. By telling them sooner rather than later, you can start benefitting from any accommodations as quickly as possible, your employer can start making plans for how to handle your leave, and you can start getting better as soon as you can. This not only benefits you and your employer in the immediate term but can also be instrumental in preventing future professional disasters. As a writer for Forbes points out, “It may mean the difference between maintaining your professional reputation and having a breakdown at the office.”

Before you do this, it can be helpful to brush up on your labor rights knowledge; chances are that you have more rights than you think and you do not have to be scared of losing your job or experiencing professional repercussions for tending to your health due to protections such as the Family Medical Leave Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. However, even if you do not qualify for protected leave under federal regulations, you will likely find that your employer is supportive of accommodations or medical leave, particularly if you create an open dialogue in which you clearly express your needs.