telling your boss…

If you work, would you tell your boss if you have a mental health issue?

Research suggests that many of us (up to 58%) are unwilling to tell our bosses when we don’t feel our mental health is good [1] [2].

It’s not hard to think of why this may be the case. There may be worries about confidentiality, not being up to the job, or maybe ongoing issues that it might cause. If the mental health problem is a disability, then legally (in the UK), there are safeguards, but much of the time we might just be feeling low.
 
It’s unfortunate that there is still a stigma about mental health.

But some companies are doing something about it.

Other than my own employer several companies have Employee Assistance Programs, offering free counselling services.  Examples of other companies that reportedly do more than the “average” UK company are Unilever [4] and Innocent Drinks [5], to name just two.

Culturally, things are different too. 

Whether you feel supported or not, will also depend on your location. Generally, companies in the UK have better mental health support than elsewhere in the world.

I have colleagues based on different continents who have told me, in confidence, that they are far more likely to take a day off saying they had a cold or cough than anxiety or depression.

It would be great if we could change the climate where we work to allow openness to talk about mental health.

That's something I’ve seen happen where I work, and I hope where you do to.

If it’s not… then what can you do to start the change?