Remarkable CEO Response to Employee Request for Mental Health Day

Have you ever felt the need to take time off for a mental health difficulty but feared the response from your boss so you just called in sick?  Usually, when we ask for a sick day, it is due to a physical illness, such as a cold or severe allergy.  While mental health issues are often just as serious we are hesitant to ask for the day off because there are usually no sick days for emotional problems.  Even when there are, frequently we still won’t call in and ask to take the day for something mentally health related.

However, the communication of one employee and her boss recently went viral for calling attention to this problem.  The woman Madelyn Parker, age 26, is a software developer in Ann Arbor Michigan, working for Olark, a live-chat platform that helps businesses communicate with customers. It is a relatively small firm with about 40 employees.

Parker had been experiencing several nights of insomnia and was having suicidal thoughts. She suffers from chronic depression and anxiety, which had built up to a point she didn't feel she'd be effective in her position without some time off for herself. She decided to take two sick days, and explained the reasons for doing so to her team. In an email she said she was taking the time to "focus on my mental health."  

She was somewhat apprehensive about how the CEO of the company would react and whether it might hurt her reputation in the future with the company. However, she felt a responsibility to let the other employees know that there should be no shame in taking a mental health day when needed to feel better and be better able to do their job. She wasn't sure the CEO would see it that way however.

The CEO of the company sent a response which was not what she expected to receive and which brought Parker to tears. In it, he thanked her for being honest about the reason behind her need for time off.  He further stated that her email reminded him of the importance of mental health time, and helped decrease the stigma associated with mental health needs. He stated that he would be work to make mental health time an accepted part of the self care model and encourage others to take this time when needed.

The tweet of a screenshot of the emails, have been “liked” over 50,000 times and retweeted more than 25,000 times.  There was an immediate surge of replies. Many disclosed stories of the negative response they received when attempting to legitimately take mental health days. Some people stated that requests to take a mental health day were refused despite having mental health days included in their benefits.  

The employee summed up the reason she felt it was important to be open about the reason she was taking two days off.

"I'm specific to be an example so my team knows that they can feel comfortable taking sick leave for mental health, even if they don't say it."

It is people like these, who have the courage to admit to vulnerabilities and the need to take care of themselves when these difficulties present who change the way companies respond to such situations.  By treating this type of concern as important but able to be handled with time off, employees and managers both can help decrease the negative attitudes and automatic judgmental assumptions that often occur when someone discloses that they need time off to handle an emotional difficulty. 

We need to make it  safe for employees and managers as well to feel they can trust the reaction of their supervisors when they are feeling emotionally vulnerable and in need of time off.  This can only occur in an atmosphere of acceptance, allowing those who are having transient mental health difficulties that can be handled in a short period to feel confident in the response they will receive such that they are comfortable asking for the time off.

Mental Health Myth: People with Mental Difficulties are Violent

Myth: People with mental disorders are violent or dangerously unpredictable and volatile

Truth: This falsehood causes more difficulties for those with mental health issues than any other.  It is one of the main causes of communities refusing to approve treatment facilities within their borders and advocates for greater latitude in involuntary commitment and who is able to involuntarily commit someone.  Movies, TV, books, games and the media often tell us the inaccurate, stigmatizing tale that people experiencing mental illness are violent and dangerous.  

And many people believe it.  A recent national public opinion survey showed that a large proportion of individuals believe that that there is a strong association between mental disorders and violence.  Surveys have determined that over 60 percent of American respondents believed that those suffering from schizophrenia were likely to act violently towards others and over 32 percent believed the same about those with depressions.  

Yet the large majority of those living with a mental health difficulty are no more likely to be violent than anyone else. Research has shown that only 3 percent to 5 percent of violent acts committed are carried out by individuals suffering from a mental disorder.  The fact is that those with serious mental health problems are actually 10 times more likely to be victims of violent crime compared to others. It is quite likely that you know at least one person with a mental health disorder without realizing it. A large percentage of individuals with mental health issues are productive members of our society.  

Michelle Pruett Nostheide, director of public education at the National Mental Health Association (NMHA). Says, “In my position, I see outrageous marketing campaigns, movie trailers, commercials, even children’s toys, that paint an unfair picture of people with mental illness, or use mental illnesses as a source of ridicule or humor.  .“People that know someone with a mental illness or have one themselves are offended or saddened by these portrayals, but the real damage is done when people who have no experience with mental health accept these stereotypes and pass them on.”

Do You Know the Truth About Mental Health?

Do you know the difference between a mental health myth and fact? Learn the truth about common mental health myths.

Myth: Mental illness will never affect me.

Mental health problems are actually extremely very common.  While not everyone will develop a diagnosable disorder, everyone experiences issues with mental health that are milder versions of a disorder either in duration or severity, subclinical symptoms of a disorder, or manifestations that closely resemble symptoms.  Everyone is equally predisposed to developing mental health issues and whether they do or not is largely dependent on what they encounter in their environment.  

The vulnerability to developing mental health difficulties the types of difficulties we may evidence, are reflections of what it is to be human.  We have feelings about other people and ourselves, perceptions about the world in which we live and the way it operates, individual characteristics that make us each unique such as personality, and ways of relating to those around us.  Each of these areas makes our lives richer but also provides room for problems to emerge.  

Facts: Statistics from 2014 show how common mental health problems are.

• One in five American adults experienced a mental health issue
• 18.1% of adults in the U.S. experienced an anxiety disorder
• 7% of adults in the U.S. had at least one major depressive episode
• 17.2% experienced minor depression
• Globally, one in four people experienced a mental health problem
• One in 10 young people experienced a period of major depression
• One in 25 Americans lived with a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression that significantly interferes with or limits one or more major life activities.
• One in 20 Americans experienced a substance use disorder or used substances to the degree that they interfered with at least one major life activity
• Among those who experienced a substance use disorder, 50.5% had a co-occurring mental illness
• Four percent of Americans experienced serious suicidal thoughts.
• There were 41,149 suicides in the United States, approximately 113 suicides each day or one every 13 minutes.