Talking to Your Boss About Your Mental Health

Disclosing a mental health condition to your boss and talking about possible accommodations that you might need is a challenging conversation in any job, but it seems particularly stigmatized in the legal community.

First of all, no employer can fire you or modify your job description merely because you disclose a mental health condition. That violates federal disability laws. However, in the highly competitive legal world, many feel that disclosing a mental health condition would prevent them from moving up within their firm. Add to that the fact that the majority of states still ask about mental health conditions on an individual’s bar application, creating a stigma that disclosing a mental health condition could cost you your license to practice law.

Fortunately, some states are refining that question. Unfortunately, the stigma it created will take more time to change. And that brings us back to whether or not you should disclose to your boss that you are living with a mental health condition, and how you should do it.

As a starting point, it is worth asking why you are disclosing your condition. A common reason is to seek a workplace accommodation, as required under the Americans with Disability Act. That is why I disclosed my condition at my last job. Yet my disclosure did not entitle my company to know everything about my condition. How much I disclosed was entirely my right. It made me feel like I had control over the process.

For me, the process ended up being stressful, as my company fought me on whether or not they considered the accommodation I was seeking to be reasonable. In so doing, I feel they minimized my condition and made the entire process more complicated than it needed to be. I felt like they only cared about their bottom line and about protecting themselves from liability. Nevertheless, I am glad I told them.

I am glad I told them because it at least allowed for a conversation about other ways that they could accommodate me. It also felt empowering to be advocating for myself instead of staying silent, which I would argue is the biggest advantage of disclosing a mental health condition.

Whether you decide to disclose it or not is ultimately up to you. I hope that sharing my experience has helped some. As a closing point, here are a few more tips.

• If there is something about the work that is negatively impacting your mental health, be specific about that.

• Know your rights before you go into the conversation.

• Remember that your mental health condition is not a weakness.

• Lastly, know that your mental health is more important than any one job. If you can’t reach an accommodation with your employer, know that there are other options out there.