Thank you to Rewire for including us in your piece about mental health accommodations in the workplace. We were honored to share our story and perspective on a very real issue for our staff.

Full article: Can I Use a Sick Day as a ‘Mental Health Day’?

Excerpt:

What if you’re not feeling physically ill — but mentally unwell?

Sharon Rosenblatt took about 30 days off for her diagnosed mental health disorder back in 2015. To her, a mental health day is no different than a typical sick day.

She’s not even a fan of calling it something different.

“I get a little bit prickly at the notion of mental health days being seen as indulgent or vacation,” Rosenblatt said. “While I’m an advocate for self-care and the occasional rest day, having the term ‘mental health day’ makes what are often the days I feel physically and emotionally the worst (seem) trivial at best.”

Rosenblatt is director of communications for Accessibility Partners, a small IT consulting firm. The company is so small that it doesn’t fall under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and it doesn’t have to follow the same federal rules with sick leave that large companies do.

However, her boss has been accommodating, allowing her time to attend therapy and psychiatric appointments, to deal with medication changes and even time in inpatient treatment.

That kind of treatment toward mental health might seem rare, but there’s evidence that it’s less taboo than it used to be.