Depression isn’t ‘crying in the corner’

EMPLOYEES who experience depression are tasked with the decision to disclose their mental health to others at work.

For these employees, one West Virginia University researcher found that they utilize eight strategies on how to disclose (or conceal) this often-stigmatized social identity.

Kayla Follmer, assistant professor of management in the John Chambers College of Business and Economics, recognized that mental illness can be a concealable identity, much like religious affiliation, sexual orientation or having conditions such as HIV or diabetes: you can’t always see it from the outside.

This led her to wonder how people manage this identity at work.

“Are people with depression disclosing their disorder at work?” Follmer asked. “Are they telling other people and how are they going about it?”

After a series of interviews with 30 employees ranging from a candy display builder to a pharmacy technician to an active-duty member of the Navy, Follmer discovered