Telling your boss about mental illness

If you have a mental illness, should you tell your boss? Professionals in the behavioral health field and those who have personal experience say it all depends.

It worked out well-twice, in fact-for 59-year-old Bob Carolla, spokesman for the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Fresh out of law school in 1982, Carolla landed a job with a "terrific" law firm but slid into a deep depression shortly after. He didn't tell anyone because he was so new to the firm and didn't know what he was dealing with.

"As the months progressed, I realized I wasn't managing it well. My thinking and judgment was becoming impaired, and I was concerned I'd hurt a client's chances in a case."

Carolla decided to talk to a senior partner about it. They arranged for a two-month leave of absence for him.

"This was amazing because I'd been there less than a year," he says.

Carolla eventually decided to resign from the firm and later got a job as a legislative council for then-Sen. George Mitchell in Maine. When it came time for him to get a top-secret clearance, the senator had no problem signing off on it, even though Carolla had indicated a past history of hospitalization for depression.

"There's an incredible sense of liberation and empowerment with disclosure," he says.

But disclosure of a mental illness can bring risks, says Michele Eckert, an advocate and peer navigator for vocational and health insurance at the Mental Health Association of Rochester, N.Y.

"Ask yourself what you're trying to accomplish. If it's to be friends, you could be treated differently by your boss or co-workers," Eckert says.

If you decide to make a disclosure so you can get an Americans with Disabilities Act workplace accommodation, she suggests focusing on the behavior associated with the condition, rather than the label.

"Instead of saying, 'I'm a schizophrenic,' say, 'I have a condition that requires me to take medicine that makes it hard for me to get up in the morning. I would like to start an hour later.'"

Disclosure is a personal decision, says Christina Thompson, who is the vice president of Health and Performance Solutions for Beacon Health Options, with responsibility for Employee Assistance Programs.

Whether you tell your boss depends on many factors, including the job, workplace culture and the type of mental illness.

"Think about who you want to talk to and remember-you don't need to disclose every detail. What's noteworthy to one person, like your boss, may not be to another," Thompson says.

Decide ahead of time what you're going to say and practice it so you don't get off-point or nervous. When you make the disclosure, do it in a private place, not in a hallway or a cubicle where you may be overhead.

"Also think of the reaction you'll get. Some people may not be well versed in mental health issues," Thompson says.

But that's not likely with current statistics. According to NAMI, one in four people in a given year and one in two people in a lifetime will have a mental health issue come up.

"I don't know anyone who hasn't dealt with a behavior health issue, on a personal level or with a family member or friend. We need to get to a point where we can have these discussions," Thompson says.