When mental illness enters the workplace
by Patrick Gaul
The Society for Human Resource Management recently published an article of offbeat or humorous stories related by HR Managers to SHRM Online. One example was a request by a Wiccan employee for time off work to celebrate the Winter Solstice. The request was granted and the Manager “received [an] education on maintaining an objective perspective and to not pass judgment.”
The article then went on to describe a few other anecdotes submitted to SHRM Online and ended with a story recounted by an HR Director describing a valuable employee who had requested that the company
“…somehow protect him from the alien rays that were shooting at him from his computer and slowly killing him”
At this point, my EAP filter kicked in and I immediately thought, “Great, a story about how the EAP saved the day. She’s going to get this guy some help, right?” Wrong. The article went on to describe the HR Director’s resolution.
“So I sent the office manager to a medical supply store and we purchased one of those large lead dental protectors and I convinced the employee that by putting that apron over his computer when he was not there would keep all ‘rays’ from coming through to him… Yup, he bought that and stayed with us for another few years”
I imagine many people reading the article found this funny. I can appreciate this type of humor, especially if it was in a movie like Office Space. In that movie, Milton clearly had some problems, but he is one of my all time favorite characters and I have no problem finding humor in his disturbed personality. What’s the difference? Milton is a character! I think that people today have a hard time understanding the difference between the way fictitious characters are treated and the way people should be treated in real life.
According to Ease@Work Counselor Sandra Lavelle, the employee fearing the alien rays “is likely to suffer from a serious and chronic mental illness and this company’s solution in reality is not that simplistic nor appropriate.” She went on to say this story “…speaks to the ignorance of mental illness by the general working public as well as management in Human Resources”
I know that these might sound like harsh words, but why is it that companies are more concerned about liability exposure presented by an employee requesting a non-traditional religious holiday than they are with getting proper treatment for an employee suffering from mental illness?
As I was preparing to write this post, I received an email from a friend who is a Special Education Teacher. She was thrilled because a parent had thanked her for being the “bright spot” in her disabled son’s life. Apparently this child is difficult to deal with because of his special needs and most people are not as patient with him as his teacher.
If we look around, there are many examples of people mistreating other people simply because they are different. For centuries racism and sexism were accepted and it wasn’t until very recently, in the context of history, that critical mass was reached with regard to the disapproval of blatant racism and sexism. In many respects we have a long way to go but at least the business community can no longer discriminate on the basis of a person’s race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.
I am not calling for prosecution of people who make fun of mental illness or people who are impatient with special needs children. I would like it though if people would begin to think like a professional when encountering interpersonal challenges. A special needs child should not rely on his teacher to be the one and only “bright spot” in his day just because he does not behave like the other children. An employee suffering from delusions should be able to get professional help when turning to his HR Director for help rather than being made fun of in a national forum for the HR industry.
So, the question remains: How would I expect the HR Director to respond to the employee fearing alien rays which were slowly killing him through his computer?
An evaluation by the EAP would have been a great start. According to Lavelle, “The recommendations of this evaluation would best meet his needs pharmacologically and may give him counseling resources for therapy to best assist him to manage his mental illness. This individual then has the best possible outcome to stay well and be a productive employee.”
And isn’t that what being in management is all about?
Most full-service EAP’s would be happy to provide an in-service for management on ways to deal with difficult employees by utilizing the services provided by the EAP. If your EAP will not do this, get a better EAP. It’s that simple. Finding a better EAP is much easier than replacing a manager, addressing legal fallout, or risking personal injury from an incident in which employee behavior was treated inappropriately.
Pat-
Very well said. I couldn’t agree more. Thank you for bringing this to the HR Community.
Jody