Workplace Mental Health Disclosure, Sustainable Employability and Well-Being at Work: A Cross-Sectional Study Among Military Personnel with Mental Illness.
Rebecca Bogaers, Elbert Geuze, Jaap van Weeghel and 5 others
PMID 36376748WHAT IT FOUND
Whether military personnel disclosed their mental illness to a supervisor did not predict their work well-being.
However, those who had a positive experience with that decision, typically due to supervisor support, reported better work ability and lower burnout. Stigma remained a risk.
Key findings
01The decision to disclose or not disclose mental illness to a supervisor was not significantly associated with any measures of sustainable employability or well-being at work.
02Having a positive experience with the disclosure decision was significantly associated with better work ability, lower turnover intention, lower burnout, higher authenticity, and a larger capability set for work.
03Among those who disclosed, 86.9% were positive about their decision, with the most common reasons being receiving supervisor support and having their illness taken seriously.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The cross-sectional design means it is impossible to know if positive disclosure experiences led to better work outcomes, or if people with better work outcomes simply had more positive experiences. The sample included only active-duty personnel, excluding those who had already left the military due to mental illness or negative disclosure experiences, likely underestimating the harm of stigma. Participants were forced to choose between a positive or negative experience, ignoring the possibility of mixed feelings. The sample was overrepresented by older, higher-educated, and higher-ranking personnel, so results may not apply to younger, lower-ranking soldiers who may face greater stigma. Non-disclosers with negative experiences were very few (N=12), limiting the ability to draw conclusions about that specific group.
Declared interests
Funded by the IMPACT PhD Program 2018 of Tilburg University and a grant from the Dutch Ministry of Defence.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that disclosure is beneficial or harmful to work well-being. The study found no significant difference in outcomes between those who disclosed and those who did not. The critical factor was not the decision itself, but the quality of the experience and the reaction of the supervisor.