Communicate Better with Everyone (HBR Working Parents Series)

10

When You Need to Take Time Off Work for Mental Health Reasons

by Barbara Ricci

Quick Takes

• Read up on the law and your company’s policies to understand your rights
• Share only the necessary details with your boss and/or HR
• Consider how much you’ll share with colleagues when you return
• Develop a brief and consistent narrative to address questions
• Give yourself time to get used to your medication and your return to work
• Create—and stick to—a routine to ease your reentry

Personal health should be a private matter. But when you need to take time off from work due to a mental health condition, often it isn’t possible to maintain that privacy. As a board member at the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), and a former managing director ...