The "Get-Well Card Incident"

Today I would like to share with you a mental health learning moment that happened to me in the workplace.

I have come to call it “The Get-Well Card Incident.”?

In 2005, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and the symptoms were so severe I was incapable of working, so I was prescribed a medical leave of absence.

Although my employer had an excellent HR staff as well as sick benefits to respond to the situation, my manager and colleagues were caught off guard. They were simply not trained to handle this particular situation – a very common problem in workplaces today.

Given my own self-stigma, I was uncomfortable sharing why I needed to take a leave. My colleagues only knew I was sick and had to take a “medical leave of absence.”?

My work environment was very positive and filled with intelligent, well-educated and empathetic individuals. I had been a part of the team for a few years and was well-known and liked – all the ingredients to have a positive support system during my leave and when I returned.?

But the powerful stigma that surrounded mental illness got the better of us.?

After several months of fighting my illness at home with near-zero contact from my employer, I received a get-well card.

It was signed by all the members of my team as well as several other colleagues. It should have felt good to receive it ... but it didn’t.

The fact that it came strangely late into my leave was one thing; the other was that they had only signed their first names. No comments, notes, or well-wishes were written, as if they didn’t know what to say.

Then, a few months later after I had returned to work, another colleague fell ill, this time with a serious virus. We were all concerned and within a few days of him falling ill someone organized a get-well card for everyone to sign.?

On a massive, oversized card, every square inch was filled with thoughtful notes and comments. They wished he’d get well and come back soon; they wrote that he was missed, and that we were all pulling for him to recover.

I was glad to have the chance to sign the card and add my own note. I thought what everyone wrote, and the sheer size of the card, would be sure to lift his spirits. It felt great to contribute. Everything about it felt right, felt appropriate.

However, as I walked back to my office, I was overwhelmed by a surge of anger that seemed to come from nowhere.?

Why was his illness worthy of this fast, positive response, while mine was not?

Why did everyone know the appropriate response to his physical illness but not to my mental illness?

My anger wasn’t directed at my colleagues, nor was it at the timely, positive response given to our colleague with the virus.

I was angry that something as ridiculous and unnecessary as stigma could create such completely disparate responses to two similar situations. I couldn’t help but feel the injustice of the two situations.

It is for these reasons that I founded StigmaZero. I realized the problem was not with my colleagues but with their lack of knowledge on how to respond. Employers can’t assume that their managers or team members will have this knowledge.

My goal has always been to help employers provide the training their teams urgently need to know how to respond to workplace mental illness and mental health challenges in a positive and healthy manner.

I am confident that if my colleagues had been given the kind of training we provide, this entire situation would have been handled differently – in a positive, respectful and empathetic manner.

If you would like to learn more about our impactful mental health training services, visit us at www.stigmazero.com or send me a DM.

Jason Finucan, Founder, StigmaZero