7:38 AM
Ovidia
Washington Business Journal - by Jennifer Nycz-Conner Staff Reporter
Tom
O’Conner, managing director of O’Conner Associates, said
the American workplace has a “don’t ask, don’t
tell” approach to workplace mental illness.
Tom O’Conner, managing director of O’Conner Associates, said the American workplace has a “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach to workplace mental illness.Tom O’Connor, managing
director of O’Connor Associates LLC in Potomac, specializes in
psychiatric disability management and helping professionals return to
work after struggling with mental illness. He shares some thoughts
about the issues facing human resources professionals when it comes to
managing mental illness in the workplace.What is the most common question you hear regarding mental disability in the workplace?
Frankly, HR reps are not asking questions ... they are carefully
responding to them, posed from authorized outside agents representing
their employees’ medical needs or legal rights. There are two
dynamics driving this posture by HR professionals; first, the ADA has
created a culture of HR risk management which has employers acting
responsively to events instead of proactively preventing them. Only
employers with high disability-related costs or adverse events from
egregious line staff have invested in disability management. The other
dynamic is stigma and ignorance. Mental health is considered a personal
health phenomenon, experienced and managed outside the workplace. Of
course, savvy employers understand that mental health disabilities have
a bottom-line cost as well as undermine productivity in their work
culture.What are the biggest challenges executives have returning to work after leave for a mental disability? Primarily,
reconciling their known identity as mentally intact, productive leaders
with their new, unfamiliar identity as emotionally frail or cognitively
impaired individuals working to regain their former selves. The
disability of depression or bipolar disorder, functionally speaking, is
not the hopelessness and negative thinking; it’s the diminished
staminas and cognitive skills. Remember, the higher you get on the
achievement ladder, the more your functional capability is dependent on
mental skills and adaptiveness. Psychiatric events are like brain
injuries and wash these abilities out like a wave over a crisply formed
sandcastle. A concurrent challenge is pacing one’s return to work
with these realities instead of the demands of the workplace.You say you’re in the quality of life business. What does that mean?
Specifically, I help professionals regain their jobs, relationships,
and overall health. Psychiatric rehabilitation teaches people adaptive
behavioral strategies to master the effects of an emerging or
re-occurring mental illness. Knowing who you are in this life (I.e.,
your skills, worldview, capabilities) is critical to mental stability
and keeping life predictable. Once a psychiatric event shakes that
stability, the employee is jarred out of a sense of security and hope
for recovery. Giving people back the ability to feel safe and secure in
their professional identity (and ability to perform) is the true
satisfaction of my work. For HR professionals, it’s coaching them
to create healthy work cultures that people want to work in, not have
to work in. Disease management, integrated disability management, and
employee assistance programs are still preventive strategies. HR
professional who understand the dynamics of mental wellness and
professional identity design work cultures that satisfy the CEOs,
general counsel, and employees.What’s the biggest challenge HR reps face in helping employees working through depression or mood disorders? Without
a doubt, the biggest challenge is the lack of comfort or competency
addressing performance issues that may be a result of psychiatric
disability. HR folks are left to address these events strictly from
performance and expect the employee to disclose the health-related
nature of the deficits or formally request accommodation, which almost
never happens. I think most workplaces don’t have common sense
policies and procedures that evoke dialogue. Between the lawyers
combing over the policies and procedures and HR generally having a
“less-than” management identity in all but the largest
employers, the American workplace has created a ‘don’t
ask/don’t tell’ culture about mental health-related
behavioral or performance issues.Should executives disclose when they’re fighting a mood disorder? The
truth — without exception — is that executives never
disclose, will never disclose, and get punished severely in their
public identities or worse when they do. I had a client years ago who
was an anesthesiologist with bipolar disorder, who never disclosed his
condition medical partners because it never interfered with his
practicing medicine effectively. He was a star, and his private
identity of having this illness was no different that one of his
partners or any other physician who privately managed a physical
disability. But one day, he had to perform back to back-to-back
surgeries and as a result of the sleep disruption, had a full blown
manic event. In the end, his partners fired him for
‘withholding’ this information and he lost his livelihood.
In the end, he returned to work as a researcher (very successfully).
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Tom O’Connor, managing director of O’Connor Associates LLC in Potomac, specializes in psychiatric disability management and helping professionals return to work after struggling with mental illness. He shares some thoughts about the issues facing human resources professionals when it comes to managing mental illness in the workplace.
What is the most common question you hear regarding mental disability in the workplace? Frankly, HR reps are not asking questions ... they are carefully responding to them, posed from authorized outside agents representing their employees’ medical needs or legal rights. There are two dynamics driving this posture by HR professionals; first, the ADA has created a culture of HR risk management which has employers acting responsively to events instead of proactively preventing them. Only employers with high disability-related costs or adverse events from egregious line staff have invested in disability management. The other dynamic is stigma and ignorance. Mental health is considered a personal health phenomenon, experienced and managed outside the workplace. Of course, savvy employers understand that mental health disabilities have a bottom-line cost as well as undermine productivity in their work culture.
What are the biggest challenges executives have returning to work after leave for a mental disability? Primarily, reconciling their known identity as mentally intact, productive leaders with their new, unfamiliar identity as emotionally frail or cognitively impaired individuals working to regain their former selves. The disability of depression or bipolar disorder, functionally speaking, is not the hopelessness and negative thinking; it’s the diminished staminas and cognitive skills. Remember, the higher you get on the achievement ladder, the more your functional capability is dependent on mental skills and adaptiveness. Psychiatric events are like brain injuries and wash these abilities out like a wave over a crisply formed sandcastle. A concurrent challenge is pacing one’s return to work with these realities instead of the demands of the workplace.
You say you’re in the quality of life business. What does that mean? Specifically, I help professionals regain their jobs, relationships, and overall health. Psychiatric rehabilitation teaches people adaptive behavioral strategies to master the effects of an emerging or re-occurring mental illness. Knowing who you are in this life (I.e., your skills, worldview, capabilities) is critical to mental stability and keeping life predictable. Once a psychiatric event shakes that stability, the employee is jarred out of a sense of security and hope for recovery. Giving people back the ability to feel safe and secure in their professional identity (and ability to perform) is the true satisfaction of my work. For HR professionals, it’s coaching them to create healthy work cultures that people want to work in, not have to work in. Disease management, integrated disability management, and employee assistance programs are still preventive strategies. HR professional who understand the dynamics of mental wellness and professional identity design work cultures that satisfy the CEOs, general counsel, and employees.
What’s the biggest challenge HR reps face in helping employees working through depression or mood disorders? Without a doubt, the biggest challenge is the lack of comfort or competency addressing performance issues that may be a result of psychiatric disability. HR folks are left to address these events strictly from performance and expect the employee to disclose the health-related nature of the deficits or formally request accommodation, which almost never happens. I think most workplaces don’t have common sense policies and procedures that evoke dialogue. Between the lawyers combing over the policies and procedures and HR generally having a “less-than” management identity in all but the largest employers, the American workplace has created a ‘don’t ask/don’t tell’ culture about mental health-related behavioral or performance issues.
Should executives disclose when they’re fighting a mood disorder? The truth — without exception — is that executives never disclose, will never disclose, and get punished severely in their public identities or worse when they do. I had a client years ago who was an anesthesiologist with bipolar disorder, who never disclosed his condition medical partners because it never interfered with his practicing medicine effectively. He was a star, and his private identity of having this illness was no different that one of his partners or any other physician who privately managed a physical disability. But one day, he had to perform back to back-to-back surgeries and as a result of the sleep disruption, had a full blown manic event. In the end, his partners fired him for ‘withholding’ this information and he lost his livelihood. In the end, he returned to work as a researcher (very successfully).
