With stigmas attached to mental illnesses, like bipolar disorder or PTSD, how do you disclose a "hidden" disability to an employer?
Employers have been working toward voluntary affirmative action goals, like maintaining a workforce that is 7 percent disabled, according to PsyPost, so employers have been learning the ins and outs of health disclosure in the workplace.
There is a flip-side to reasonable accommodations required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): workers with depression cost employers in the United States $44 billion every year (due to absences or low productivity), according to PsyPost, so, as a result, there is a risk to disclosing your illness.
So why do it?
In order to get an accommodation under ADA, an individual must disclose his or her disability. For someone with mental illness, reasonable accommodations could include schedule flexibility or a service animal, according to PsyPost. The top reason why people with mental illness choose to disclose is the desire to do a better job.
But disclosure won't happen if employees don't feel supported by their supervisor, which is the second most important factor when choosing whether to disclose or not, according to PsyPost.
Supervisors can help create trust and boost their own confidence by getting trained in disability awareness. According to PsyPost, some individuals who have disclosed their illness to their employer only did so after they saw their employer hiring people with disabilities and seeing those new hires succeed.
"I would be wary of disclosing until I saw how the employer actually treated employees with mental health issues, not just their stated policy," an unnamed individual told PsyPost. "There would have to be trust in my supervisors and colleagues."
How do you know what to disclose?
Many surveyed by PsyPost said they chose to disclose after they were hired, once they had a chance to demonstrate their value to the company. Waiting could be stressful, but as another unnamed individual told PsyPost, "It is certainly less stressful to have it out in the open than to be concerned about having to hide it and not wanting anyone to find out."
