Category: Mental Health

Elana Gross, Monster contributor | Wednesday, March 16th 2022

 

 

If you’re among the 12.7 percent of Americans that have a visible or invisible disability, you may have some questions about disclosing a disability to an employer in your resume, cover letter, or during the interview process—especially if you know you will need accommodations at some point during the hiring process and/or when you start work.

But do you have to disclose your disability by law? Should you? If you do mention your disability, when is the best time to bring it up?

You’re busy applying to jobs, so we did the research for you and spoke to experts to address some of the questions you may have.

By Law, Do You Have to Disclose Your Disability to an Employer?

No. You are not legally required to mention your disability while you’re being considered for a job. You do not need to disclose your disability on your resume, cover letter, or other application materials, or during an interview.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prevents eligible employers from discriminating against qualified job applicants and employees if they have a disability. (The law applies to state and local government employers and private employers with 15 or more employees.)

Under the law, someone is considered to have a disability if they have, have a record of having, or are perceived to have a “physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity” such as walking, hearing, seeing, speaking, learning, or completing manual tasks.

Reasonable Accommodations

To be protected under the ADA, a candidate must meet the job requirements and be able to complete the “essential job functions” with or without a “reasonable accommodation.”

A reasonable accommodation is a change or modification to the work environment or way things are done that makes it accessible. For example, you could request for the employer to modify the hiring process by hosting the interview in an accessible space, providing an American Sign Language interpreter or reader, or offering you written materials in accessible formats.

You are not required to self-identify a disability on a job application or during an interview, even if you later disclose that you need reasonable accommodations.

An employer is required to provide reasonable accommodations unless they can show that it is an “undue hardship,” meaning there would be a “significant” difficulty or cost. However, they can’t refuse to provide a requested accommodation if there is some cost involved, and they must provide an alternative accommodation.

How Does the ADA Apply to the Hiring Process?

The law prohibits employers from asking “disability-related questions” or requiring medical examinations until they have made you a conditional offer. However, if you disclose that you have a disability or have a visible disability, an employer can ask for more information, but there are limits.

Employers are prohibited from asking invasive questions about your disability and should only ask questions about the accommodations you need and whether you’ll be able to complete the essential job responsibilities.

In those instances, the employer can ask you whether you can complete the essential job responsibilities with or without reasonable accommodations and for you to demonstrate or describe how you’d do it. Employers can’t refuse to hire you if you can’t complete nonessential job responsibilities.

There’s a Disability Question on a Job Application. What’s That About?

If you see a disability question on a job application, that’s not entirely unusual. Some companies have Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) survey questions at the end of an application to collect data that they are required to submit to the EEOC. The survey typically asks about the applicant’s gender, race, and whether they have a disability. The form should say that it is voluntary and provide you an option to decline answering.

Should You Disclose Your Disability to an Employer During the Hiring Process?

You know you don’t have to disclose, but should you? Granted, this might not be a choice for everyone. If you require a reasonable accommodation during the hiring process, the employer can ask why you need an accommodation and what you need. The employer may ask for “reasonable documentation.”(Check your state’s laws to see how much information employers can request.)

Jinny Kim, the director of the disability rights program at Legal Aid at Work, says the nonprofit legal services organization counsels clients to only disclose a disability:

• if you need a reasonable accommodation during the hiring process, such as when you are invited to an interview
• when you start the job
• at any point during your time at the company

Legal Aid at Work recommends that clients consider the potential benefits and downsides of disclosing. The benefits include receiving necessary accommodations and gaining support and, depending on the workplace, downsides may include a risk of stigma and harassment and a loss of privacy.

What Are the Best Practices for Disclosing a Disability to an Employer During the Hiring Process?

Typically, you only need to tell the employer that you have an ADA-protected disability and share the reasonable accommodations you are requesting. Some states may allow employers to ask you or your medical representative for a specific diagnosis.

Eve Hill, a disability rights attorney at the law firm Brown, Goldstein and Levy, says to explain to the employer how you’ll do the job, your past accomplishments, and that the accommodations you need are not difficult to implement.

What Are Some Ways to Tell If an Employer Is Inclusive?

Moeena Das, the Chief Operating Officer of National Organization on Disability, a nonprofit that increases work opportunities for people with disabilities, suggests checking whether the company website is accessible and includes an accessibility statement. Similarly, she recommends checking whether the company has an employee resource group (ERG) focused on disabilities and whether they have partnerships with disability organizations.

Start the Hiring Process with a Free Resume Review

Now that you know more about your rights and the process of disclosing a disability to an employer, you’re ready to begin preparing for the job search. Want some help with that? Start by polishing your resume with a free resume review from Monster. We can show you how to improve it so that you have a better chance of getting interview requests. It’s quick and easy (and did we mention free?) and can really make a difference.

This article is not intended as a substitute for professional legal advice. Always seek the professional advice of an attorney regarding any legal questions you may have.

Originally Posted at https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/disclose-disability-on-resume

NOD and DiversityInc Recognize Mental Health Awareness Month

 

Originally published on DiversityInc.com

How many of your employees or colleagues at work are struggling with mental health issues? Do you know? Have you even considered it?

June 20, 2018 | By Carol Glazer, President of the National Organization on Disability (NOD)

The tragic and untimely deaths by suicide of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain should serve as a reminder that even the most talented people, who appear to be holding it all together better than many of us, also can be affected by mental illness, a leading cause of suicide.

How many of your employees or colleagues at work are struggling with mental health issues? Do you know? Have you even considered it?

Mental health conditions are the single greatest cause of worker disability in the U.S., with costs exceeding $193 billion, according to NAMI.

Yet while the costs of mental illness left untreated are high, pharmacological advances and new therapeutic techniques have dramatically reduced the costs of treating mental health disorders — like anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder (the latter of which affects one out of every five veterans  of the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan) — in the workforce.

According to a report that NOD advised on for the WMI, employees with invisible disabilities (such as mental health issues) are often less engaged than their counterparts with visible disabilities, likely because the latter workers access the accommodations they need at higher rates. Given the stigma associated with mental illness, it’s natural that workers will hold back on disclosing, and getting the accommodations they need.

From an employer’s perspective, the need for a successful strategy to deal with mental illness in the workplace is clear. And accommodations for someone with a mental illness are often simple — and inexpensive, such as flexibility in scheduling to accommodate medical appointments.

You can get started with these 6 Key Tips to Address Mental Health in your Workplace, from the NOD Corporate Leadership Council. And there are companies leading the pack that you can learn from, including health care company and DiversityInc Hall of Famer Kaiser Permanente, whose “total health” perspective is a model for other companies.

Today, revealing and accommodating a mental illness is a win-win for the employee and the employer. I found it incredibly helpful to share my own story related to mental illness. My hope is that more employers will take the steps to create a culture where more employees can do the same, in part by starting the conversation. Take care of your employees, because some are suffering from mental illness and the results can be catastrophic.

Read on DiversityInc

Kaiser Permanente’s focus on reducing mental health stigma for consumers and members also applies to its own employees. The National Organization on Disability caught up with Ron Copeland, MD, to understand how to best create a supportive and inclusive workplace for people who are experiencing a mental health condition.   

Ronald Copeland, MD, FACS, is senior vice president, National Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity Strategy and Policy and chief equity, inclusion, and diversity officer at Kaiser Permanente. Dr. Copeland has been a practicing physician and surgeon within the Kaiser Permanente health system for 25 years and since 2013 has championed Kaiser Permanente’s equity, inclusion, and diversity agenda as a critical element of the organization’s overall strategic goals.

Dr. Copeland joined the NOD Board of Directors in 2015, and in 2016 Kaiser Permanente became a President’s Circle member of the NOD Corporate Leadership Council, a group of 50+ companies committed to advancing disability inclusion in the workplace. Because of Kaiser Permanente’s exemplary employment practices for people with disabilities, NOD named the company a 2017 Leading Disability Employer™.

Dr. Copeland served as a panelist at an NOD Corporate Leadership Council roundtable dedicated to starting a dialogue and challenging outdated thinking on mental health in the workplace. NOD asked Dr. Copeland five key questions to find out why employers shouldn’t overlook mental health in the workplace, how to reduce stigma and improve employee engagement, and what Kaiser Permanente is doing to build an inclusive culture.

1. Why is it as important to focus on mental health in the workplace as physical wellbeing?

Mental health conditions are on the rise globally. An estimated 350 million people worldwide suffer from depression, and the World Health Organization has predicted that by 2020 depression will be the second-leading cause of disease globally. Depression and other mental health conditions are a leading cause of workplace disability in the form of lost productivity because of how common they are–1 out of every 5 people are suffering from a mental health condition at any given time–and because they tend to occur when people are young. Three-quarters of mental health conditions arise before the age of 24. While these statistics seem daunting, it’s important to remember most of these conditions are treatable.

However, mental health too often is treated as separate from physical health. One of Kaiser Permanente’s core beliefs is that total health is more than freedom from physical affliction — it’s about mind, body, and spirit. It’s the philosophy we live and breathe. Part of our mission is to achieve total health for our employees, members, and the communities we serve. With respect to our employees, we know it’s difficult to reach their full potential if they are experiencing physical or mental challenges. If we are committed to our employees achieving total health, we must treat mental health as importantly as we treat physical health, by creating an environment where people feel supported and psychologically safe, and where they have access to mental health services. There are resources available. There is hope.

2. Why is there still a stigma about mental health? Are you seeing a cultural sea change at all?

Stigma about mental health, driven by fear and misunderstanding, occurs because people often view conditions such as depression as character flaws instead of as treatable illnesses.  Stigma has been largely absent from the dialog about how the health care industry and society overall should address the mental health epidemic. The stigma around mental health has led to harmful and biased ways of describing people with mental health conditions, and feeds the stereotypes that people living with mental health conditions are less than whole, abnormal, or dangerous.

As part of our “Find Your Words,” public health awareness campaign, which is designed to help people start conversations around mental health issues, Kaiser Permanente conducted the first national consumer poll focused on stigma to assess attitudes and perceptions toward mental health. It uncovered some interesting contradictions: While 70 percent of respondents said people are more open about discussing mental health conditions compared to 10 years ago, more than half the respondents felt a family member or friend was struggling with a mental health issue, but not telling them.

As health care providers, we must make it safe and routine to talk with patients about mental health. It is as relevant as talking about chest pain or a broken limb. It is part of a patient’s total health.

3. What does the research show about prioritizing mental health and inclusion?

Among the reasons employers can no longer afford to remain silent about mental health in the workplace is the direct connection between employees’ mental health and the organization’s bottom line. Research demonstrates that employees struggling with mental health conditions directly impact workplace productivity and performance:

• Mental health conditions are the single greatest cause of worker disability in the U.S.
• 62% of missed work days can be attributed to mental health conditions.
• Employees with untreated mental health conditions use non-psychiatric health care services 3 times more than those who do get treatment.
• Depressed employees are 20% to 40% more likely to become unemployed because of their condition.
• People with depression have a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.

But, again, we want people to understand there is hope. Treatment for depression and mental health conditions works – but people who feel the need to keep their depression hidden are far less likely to seek help. That is why we want to reduce the stigma around mental health conditions, so those who could benefit from treatment aren’t afraid to seek it out.

4. What is Kaiser Permanente doing to make the workplace inclusive for people with disabilities, including mental health issues?

Creating an inclusive environment in the workplace helps employees feel safe and supported. If we’re interested in the total health and wellness of our employees and patients, we must have the same level of empathy about a person’s mental health as we do for their physical health. One of the ways we do this at Kaiser Permanente is through training and education around equity, inclusion, and diversity. Our Leading Inclusively program provides leaders and their teams the opportunity to gain knowledge, adopt attitudes, develop skills, and modify behaviors that contribute to Kaiser Permanente’s goal of continuously becoming more inclusive.

Additionally, assessment and measurement play a significant role in how Kaiser Permanente approaches making our workplace culture more inclusive for people with disabilities, including mental health conditions. We participate in benchmarking and undergo several external assessments to identify improvement opportunities and effective workplace inclusion practices we can implement.

Specific to mental health conditions – our commitment to advancing the conversation on mental health and wellness runs throughout our organization and beyond. Our Chairman and CEO  Bernard J. Tyson is actively leading a global dialogue about mental health, leading a panel on the topic at the 2018 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and participating in a discussion at Brainstorm Health 2018 on ways to reduce stigma around mental health issues, integrate mental and physical care, and build resilient communities.

Kaiser Permanente is piloting a Mental Health First Aid training course to empower employees and the community to respond compassionately to someone experiencing a mental health challenge.

And as part of our Find Your Words campaign, Kaiser Permanente partnered with national oral history project StoryCorps. We asked for volunteers – both inside and outside our organization – to share their personal experiences with mental health conditions. The conversations are powerful, and everyone who participated said they did it because they wanted to help others. Sharing these conversations builds awareness and empathy around mental health conditions and the hope is listeners will be inspired to step out and share as well.

5. What are things we all can do to create a more inclusive environment for those struggling with mental health issues?

We all can show compassion and empathy for those with mental health conditions. We can also talk more openly about mental health by sharing personal stories, which help those struggling with mental health issues feel less isolated. We can also reduce stigma by learning and sharing facts about mental health conditions and being mindful of the words we use to avoid reinforcing stigma and causing harm. By raising awareness about the mental health epidemic and making it safe for people to seek help, we can move toward achieving total health for all.

Ignoring mental health in your workplace can affect productivity and the bottom line

On November 1^st, the National Organization on Disability held our Corporate Leadership Council Fall Luncheon and Roundtable. Hosted at Sony’s New York offices, the event centered on the topic of mental health in the workplace.

Members of our Board of Directors and executives from nearly 40 companies held a candid conversation, heard from business leaders, and participated in an insightful Q&A where successful strategies were discussed to accommodate and support employees with mental illness in the workplace.

“Mental illness is the single biggest cause of disability worldwide,” said Craig Kramer, a panelist at the event and Chair of Johnson & Johnson’s Global Campaign on Mental Health. “One out of four people will have a clinically diagnosable mental illness at some point in their lives,” he continued. Another 20 to 25% of the population will be caregivers to loved ones with a mental illness.

The costs are staggering. “In the coming decades, mental illness will account for more than half of the economic burden of all chronic diseases, more than cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases combined…. It’s trillions of dollars,” said Kramer.

From an employer’s perspective, the need for a successful strategy to deal with mental illness in the workplace is clear. But what are the most effective ways to confront this challenge? Roundtable participants discussed a wide range of ideas and success stories aimed at de-stigmatizing mental health and incorporating the issue into wider conversations around talent, productivity, and inclusion.

6 Key Takeaways on Mental Health in the Workplace:

1. Be empathetic. “The most important workplace practice [with respect to mental health] is empathy,” said NOD President Carol Glazer. Empathy is critical for normalizing conversations about mental health, but also for maximizing productivity. “A feeling of psychological safety is important,” said Lori Golden, a panelist and Abilities Strategy Leader for Ernst & Young; and this sense of safety requires the empathy of colleagues to flourish.
2. Tell stories. “Nothing is more activating of empathy than for people to share their powerful stories,” said Dr. Ronald Copeland, NOD Board member and Senior Vice President of National Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and Policy and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for Kaiser Permanente. Copeland’s organization partners with the renowned nonprofit, Story Corps, to capture the stories of Kaiser Permanente employees, and also provides a platform on the company intranet for employees to communicate in a safe space. Both Craig Kramer and Lori Golden also shared examples of how their companies provide opportunities to share their stories and “start the conversation, break the silence,” as Kramer put it.
3. Model from the top. Carol Glazer received a standing ovation at the luncheon for her account of her own experiences with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This type of executive-level modeling sends a powerful message that a company is committed to improving mental health for all employees. Lori Golden shared how EY had experienced great success with a program where top-level managers host office-specific events and share stories of mental illness or addiction that they are personally connected to – either about their colleagues or loved ones or, in a surprisingly high number of instances, about themselves. Senior leadership setting the example conveys that this is a forum in which employees can feel comfortable sharing.
4. Communicate peer-to-peer. “We all know that there’s greater trust of our own peers than there is of the organization,” said Lori Golden. So to build trust, EY “took it to the grass roots,” creating formal opportunities for employees to have conversations about mental health and asking other ERGs to co-sponsor these events. Craig Kramer also noted that Johnson & Johnson had simply folded mental health issues into their global disability ERGs, eventually building the world’s second-largest mental health ERG by piggy-backing on existing infrastructure and leveraging existing connections.
5. Be flexible. Accommodating [the fact that people live busy, complex lives] gets you better buy-in…and keeps production pretty high,” suggested Dr. Copeland. A representative from one Council company concurred, explaining how their company has recently instituted a new policy of paid time off for caregivers on top of federally-funded leave. “Being in a culture in which we measure what you produce and not whether you show up in person all day, every day, and where if you can’t be there, you negotiate how the deliverables will get done and in what time frame…is immensely helpful to people who themselves have mental illness issues or addiction or are caring for those who do and may need some flexibility,” summarized Lori Golden.
6. Build a trustworthy Employee Action Plan. Many employees do not access or even trust their organization’s internal resources. According to Craig Kramer, the percentage of calls placed to most company Employee Action Plans (EAPs) regarding mental health is “in the low single digits,” while “if you look at your drug spend, you’ll find that around 50% is [related to] mental health.” The people answering those calls must be trained in mental health issues, and employees also need to be assured that EAPs are truly confidential.

While revealing and accommodating mental illness remains a massive challenge in the workplace and beyond, a number of successful strategies are emerging for tackling this challenge – many of them pioneered by companies in NOD’s Corporate Leadership Council.

Engage. Advance.

Login to the new Corporate Leadership Council Members’ Only Portal to access exclusive resources and toolkits about mental health in the workplace.

Click the LOG IN button on NOD.org to get started! Need help logging into the Members’ Only Portal? Contact us at [email protected]. 

I know because it happened to me.

Nov 3, 2017 | By Carol Glazer, President, National Organization on Disability

Twenty-five years ago my first son, Jacob, was born with hydrocephalus, or water on the brain. Doctors told us Jacob would grow up with both physical and intellectual disabilities. What those doctors didn’t tell me at the time was the emotional toll his illness would take on me.

It’s a story all too familiar for parents of children with severe disabilities, yet many of us struggle in silence. This week I decided to share my story publicly for the first time at a mental health forum in New York hosted by the National Organization on Disability, the nonprofit I am privileged to lead. As someone who encourages companies to create inclusive workplaces that invite employees to disclose their disabilities, the time had come for me to disclose mine.

I was diagnosed four years ago with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. PTSD is most commonly associated with military veterans returning from service. Yet parental PTSD is more common than you might think — nearly 30 percent of U.S. children live with chronic health conditions. Many of them might not have survived in previous generations, but because of advances in pediatric and therapeutic techniques and a changing spectrum of disease, they do live — but often with a lifetime spent in and out of the hospital. Nearly half of their mothers exhibit symptoms of anxiety and PTSD. Count me as one of them.

All these years later I can still feel the way my face tingled when the doctor told me the news about Jacob. It was the start of a year in which Jacob underwent 12 brain surgeries, two experimental surgeries, and suffered from three brain infections – the first of which, acquired in the hospital at birth and undiagnosed for six weeks, had caused considerable brain damage, particularly to his visual cortex. At the end of this ordeal, we were told that Jacob would likely be blind, he might not walk, and that his level of cognitive functioning would only become clear in the next three to five years.

In an instant, all of the excitement and anticipation of the arrival of our first child suddenly turned to mass confusion and terror. I tried to wrap my mind around the painful reality of what Jacob had been through, the massive uncertainty surrounding his long-term prognosis, and a life we knew would now entail regular trips to the hospital.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but something profound happened to me in those early years of Jacob’s life. I became a different person. More cautious. More prone to worry. Impatient or angry with the wrong people. I wasn’t happy with the person I’d become.

Clearly and unmistakably, I’d experienced trauma. Not the kind soldiers experience on the battlefield, but similar. When you think about it, repeated hospitalizations are not unlike multiple deployments.

I hate talking about myself, and usually don’t. But I chose to share my story in the hope that it will bring to life many of the questions we seek to shed light on as it relates to mental illness in America, as it’s fraught with stigma, misconceptions, fears, and myths.

Why for so long did I dismiss the feelings of terror, the insomnia, flashbacks, and sheer exhaustion, believing I had to just get over it?

Why did I not seek a diagnosis until only four years ago and then reject it as nothing compared with combat trauma?

Why am I only now telling this story?

The answers, of course, lie in the stigma and misconceptions surrounding mental health issues in the workplace. At NOD, we work every day to reduce the stigma around disabilities, both seen and unseen. We have amazing companies in our Corporate Leadership Council who are making this a priority so that their employees are less reluctant to share their stories, thus allowing their managers to create more inclusive workspaces, and benefit from their diverse talents and perspectives.

As for Jacob, I am happy to report that through a persistent regimen of early intervention treatments and multiple therapies, and with New York’s unparalleled special education system, he has thrived, with each victory bringing pure joy as he’s turned out to be a happy, clever, busy and loving young man.

And while the trauma of those early experiences crushed me to the core then, a new self has also emerged. Determined, skilled at dealing with adversity and solving problems. Resilient, vulnerable, and more compassionate. These are all skills a talented therapist has helped me recognize in myself.

Perhaps most of all, I have learned a workplace-leading practice that we all can use when facing coworkers, bosses, or team members who are dealing with mental health issues. It’s just one simple word: Empathy.

My colleagues have consistently been willing to put themselves in my position, not just feel for me, but put themselves in my place and think about how they’d want to be treated. That has engendered my loyalty, productivity, and ability to turn my life experiences into positives for my employers. In the case of NOD, I’d venture it’s had a direct impact on our mission.

As humans we’re built to be empathetic — but that empathy has to be activated. Once you find your way to that as a coworker or friend of someone who’s experiencing a mental health issue, or any disability for that matter, much of what you need to do will follow.

That is my story. I wish I’d told it sooner.

Read the full story at RedbookMag.com

The Huffington Post, August 25, 2014 | Carol Glazer, President, National Organization on Disability

As an actor, comic and humanitarian, Robin Williams touched millions of lives. His untimely death by suicide linked to serious depression has deprived all of us of years more of his extraordinary gifts. More importantly, his family lost a husband and father. The media has been abuzz about the profound pain wrought by depression on its victims and their families. But before we move on to the next important news story, let’s first tally up what Robin Williams’ death tells us about the stigmatization of mental illness and the cost of investing in its early detection and treatment vs. the cost of not doing so.

Throughout history, as a society we’ve treated mental illness in short bursts, separated by large periods of benign or active neglect. From the purges and bloodletting in the Middle Ages, to later “madhouses” that housed inhabitants in cages, to reforms creating more humane state hospitals in the late 1800s, public policy has come full circle. In the 1960s we learned that state institutions were no better than incarceration of previous centuries. That recognition led to deinstitutionalization in the mid-1960s, codified by President Kennedy’s funding for treatment facilities through the Community Mental Health Act of 1963. (President Kennedy’s sister Rosemary had famously undergone a lobotomy, which left her inert and unable to speak more than a few words).

But while the number of institutionalized mentally ill people in the United States dropped from a peak of 560,000 to just over 130,000 in 1980, only half of the proposed community mental health centers intended to support individuals who transitioned back to communities were ever built, and many of those that remained were dismantled in the 1970s and ’80s due to lack of funding. Sadly, the promise of deinstitutionalization — helping vast numbers of people with mental health disabilities lead normal and productive lives through treatment in their communities — was never fulfilled.

From Deinstitutionalization to Transinstitutionalization

Today, inadequate treatment options in communities have forced people with serious mental health problems into homelessness and, once again, to prison. Across the country, individuals with severe mental illness are three times more likely to be in a prison than in a mental health facility, and 40 percent will spend some time in their lives in jail. In fact, the three largest mental health providers in the nation are jails: Cook County in Illinois, Los Angeles County and Rikers Island in New York. Collectively, jails and prisons now house an estimated 400,000 people with serious mental illness.

The consistent theme in the cycle has been a lack of a political will to fund appropriate mental health facilities and treatments. But with suicide rates among Baby Boomers, e.g., those in Williams’ generation, increasing by nearly 30 percent since 1999 and depression rates, closely correlated with suicides, likewise skyrocketing for people in this age group, it’s a public health crisis of tsunami proportion.

We pay dearly for our failure to invest in adequate early detection and treatment in communities. The cost of housing an inmate in prison is around $25,000 annually, not including the cost of social and medical services and education. (Ironically, getting these services upfront could keep many out of prison in the first place.)

In the workforce, stigmatization and inadequate treatment imposes similarly high costs to workers and employers alike. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, mental illness accounts for $193.2 billion in lost earnings and 217 million lost workdays annually, as well as dramatic reductions in on-the-job productivity.

Call to Action

We can figure this out. Advances in neuroscience and psychiatry have led to new therapeutic approaches that allow people with mental illness to live and work productively in their communities, at fractions of the cost of incarceration and homelessness. Failure to fund these treatments upfront is penny wise and pound-foolish.

Can we use Robin Williams’ death as a catalyst to resume an important national conversation about the stigmatization of mental illness, the inadequate treatment for those experiencing it, and the huge and unnecessary cost society bears as a result?

It’s time to bring the issue back full circle. We need a national commitment to community supports, both for early diagnosis and treatment. And humane inpatient psychiatric care is necessary for some individuals in need of a more structured care environment. We need better training for mental health care providers. And we need to educate families and employers about the prospects for a productive life, together with the cost-effective supports needed to get there. In short, we need a national commitment to alleviating the devastating costs of inadequately treating mental illness.

As a first step, we need to show all of America’s nearly 43 million people with mental illness the same compassion and empathy we’ve shown Robin Williams. They all deserve to live a full life, all of us need to benefit from what they have to give, and it can be done at a fraction of the cost of the alternatives.

Read all of Carol Glazer’s The Huffington Post blogs

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We invite you to read our 6 Key Tips to Address Mental Health in your Workplace and learn how Kaiser Permanente, a leading healthcare provider, is tackling the problem with a ‘total health’ perspective from its Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer Dr. Ronald Copeland to discover strategies that can help boost inclusion and understanding in your company.