Navigating Mental Health Struggles in the Workplace (Pt. 1)

If your mental health is interfering with your work, it’s important to take a step back and reflect on the contributing factors. Don’t just assume things will get better with time. Likewise, don’t dismiss yourself as being too sensitive or weak. Your mental health matters, and prioritizing it is paramount for your well-being and productivity. 

Any mental health condition can affect one’s ability to concentrate, function, and perform effectively at work. However, some conditions tend to cause more difficulties than others. Some common clinical diagnoses that may affect mental health and workplace performance include depression, substance use disorders, and ADHD. While these all have different causes and presentations, they all share a similarity in their ability to create distraction and difficulty motivating at work. Additionally, burnout, which is not a clinical diagnosis but nonetheless a real phenomenon affecting employees across all industries, presents with a loss of efficacy in the workplace. It also presents as apathy, discouragement, and disconnection from the work. Hallmark symptoms include cynicism, emotional exhaustion, and persistently feeling drained and/or bored. When we are struggling at work due to our mental health, what can we do?

Tips for advocating for yourself

Learn your rights:

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) offers numerous legal protections for employees. Their definition of a mental disability includes an impairment that significantly limits one or more life activities (which includes work).

The ADA prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals with a record of psychiatric disabilities. They also cannot demote or deny training opportunities for this reason.

Employees have a right to privacy under the ADA. They have the freedom to choose if they disclose their disability to their employer. While employers can ask for medical documentation, they cannot share these records with others. In addition, they have a right to receive appropriate workplace accommodations.

Ask for Accommodations:

These accommodations  will vary based on one’s job description and the type of employment. But some common accommodations include:

• Quieter or private work environments

• Access to more breaks

• Ability to work remotely

• Designated breaks for taking medication or attending appointments

• Using various aid devices (white noise headphones)

When appropriate talk to your employeer:

Although you aren’t legally obligated to disclose your mental health to your employer, you might find it beneficial to share some of your struggles. 

Before doing so, it’s helpful to review your current relationship with your boss. For example, do you two share a solid working relationship? Do you believe they would be supportive and empathetic to your struggles? If you’ve answered yes to both of these questions, you might be in a good position for disclosure. 

Even if you don’t necessarily need specific accommodations, keeping your boss in the loop may provide some relief. For one, they have a greater context about some of your potential obstacles. Moreover, they can likely collaborate with you to find helpful solutions to ensure you stay healthy while getting your work done effectively. 

Identify your triggers

It’s important to recognize how your specific workplace or career might be impacting your mental health. Some common triggers include:

• Feeling under-appreciated or disrespected 

• Feeling overworked 

• Workplace bullying or toxic coworkers/bosses

• Being asked to routinely perform tasks outside of your scope of competence

• Increased stress at home (making it difficult to have a work-life balance)

• Uncertain job security or financial burdens

• Significant workplace changes

It’s possible that you may be experiencing several triggering situations at the same time. In this case, it makes sense that all the stress impacts your emotional well-being. Recognizing these situations allows you to start making an action plan for change.

Establish strong boundaries

It’s crucial to consider how you honor your needs in the workplace. If you don’t assert yourself, you risk feeling depleted, taken advantage of, or otherwise disrespected. This pattern can persist among clients, coworkers, and supervisors.

Setting boundaries often means saying no more often. For example, if you are swamped with one project, you may need to turn down a coworker’s request for help with their project. Or, if your boss asks you to stay late one evening, it’s permissible to say no because you have a standing dinner commitment with your family.

Boundaries, of course, can be flexible based on specific circumstances. You won’t always get your way, and it’s important to know when to compromise with others. But, ideally, you should be standing up for yourself and advocating for what you need at work. 

In our next blog post, we will continue with more thoughts and tips for advocating for your needs in the workplace. Until then, take care!