Job Rights for the Mentally Ill

Employers beware. All illnesses must be treated equally.

By Christine Cosgrove
WebMD Feature

Reviewed by Gary D. Vogin, MD

Laura Baxter knew her work was suffering, but she didn't want to tell her boss the reason.

For years, Baxter (not her real name) had taken antidepressants for major depression. But now her medication was failing. As her doctor searched for a better drug, Baxter began to lose sleep and couldn't think clearly. "I could barely get out of bed to brush my teeth or shower," she says. "At work I was getting nothing done."

To make matters worse, a new supervisor took over Baxter's department in the biotechnology firm where she did research. Unaware of what good work Baxter had done before her illness, he was moving to fire her. "I knew I was about to get canned," she says, "but I also felt, from comments he'd made, that he would not be sympathetic if I told him what was the matter."

It's a dilemma faced by millions of Americans. One in five Americans suffers from a mental illness, says Jennifer Heffron, an attorney with the National Mental Health Association. "But most people have no idea which of their co-workers are coping with it. It's very personal information and most people do not like to disclose this about themselves because of the stereotypes surrounding the issue."

This stigma is the biggest barrier to treatment, and can result in "outright discrimination and abuse" on the job and elsewhere, wrote U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher in his December 1999 report "Mental Health."

But the stigma of mental illness need not pose an overwhelming barrier to getting and keeping good job. Federal law requires employers to give people with mental illness a fair chance at working, and many organizations offer support and counseling.

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), employers must accommodate the mentally ill just as they do the physically ill. Often the accommodations for the mentally ill are the less costly of the two, says Heffron. "It can be something as simple as more flexible working hours, or moving a person's office to the end of a hallway so there is less distraction if concentration is a problem."

Armed with such advice and a letter from her psychiatrist, Baxter went to the company's human resources department and explained her situation. Without divulging Baxter's problem to her boss, a human resources manager was able to transfer her temporarily into a less taxing position.

Baxter handled her situation well, says Patricia Owens, a former associate commissioner of the Social Security disability program.

But the ADA rules are complex, and anyone who contemplates disclosing a disability should first become very familiar with its provisions. (Boston University's Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, at www.bu.edu/sarpsych/jobschool/, has information on how to disclose a psychiatric disability to an employer.)

Baxter had an advantage: she already knew she suffered from depression. Owens says many employees do not recognize the signs of mental illness in themselves. These people are in danger of losing their jobs because they don't understand why they're not functioning as well as they should.

1 | 2

Next Page >

emotional wellness newsletter

A balance of body, mind and spirit mean a healthier body to live in. Start on your path to balance with the Emotional Wellness newsletter and get health information from a source you can trust.