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Stress in the Workplace: Mental Health C...

Adams, Gabrielle, ...

Case

Stress in the Workplace: Mental Health Conversations—The Employee

Adams, Gabrielle; Brown-Iannuzzi, Jazmin; Lisnek, Jaclyn; Prengler, Melanie; Yemen, Gerry

OB-1441 | Published August 7, 2023 | 2 pages Case

Collection: Darden School of Business

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Most managers will one day be in a situation where they must help another employee with a mental health issue. How should they prepare for these conversations? What resources are available? This role-play case duo sets up a discussion on mental health—specifically, depression and anxiety—between an employee and their manager in a US context. Students will be assigned either the role of the boss or the direct report, and will be asked to navigate a difficult conversation around mental ill health and performance at work. The material allows students to learn about the various policies and laws that govern these discussions and the typical workplace resources that may or may not be available, and to practice having these tricky conversations. This case set may not be appropriate or useful for audiences with several employees who work or plan to work outside of the United States because mental health symptom presentations, norms surrounding mental health discussions, and mental health resources in other countries differ significantly from what is discussed in this case set.

- Raise awareness of common mental health issues and disabilities such as depression in the workplace. - Recognize that workplace stress and mental health issues such as depression are not the same issue. - Understand how stigma motivates concealment of mental illnesses from coworkers and managers. - Practice difficult conversations as a direct report or as a supervisor in US workplaces. - Prepare students for situations involving mental health in US workplaces.