Recently, a friend came to me for advice about a treatment for a mental disorder. The friend who was suffering from symptoms of depression asked me; “If I see a therapist using my company sponsored health insurance, will the firm find out about it?” This may seem like a ridiculous question, but for people who grew up in families with long-held negative stigmas toward mental health treatment, it’s not uncommon for them to express paranoia about their employer finding out about their treatment. But is it really in the in the best interest of the company not to know about their employees mental health problems?

A recent article from the Seattle Times reports companies that become involved in the screening and initialization of treatment for their employees with depression actually gain an average of three extra weeks of work compared to companies that do not screen their employees. The article titled “Study: Employers Benefit from Treatment of Depression”, sites a study which involved 604 workers from 16 different industries. The study found that companies who were proactive in the treatment of depressed employees had a positive return on investment. Positive ROI meant the employees who received treatment missed less work and were more productive when they came to work, than those employees who screened positive for depression but not offered treatment.

PS; If you’re still wondering, your employer should not be able to find out about your treatment for mental health illness, provided of course you don’t take personal phone calls from your treatment provider at work or share details about your therapy to big-mouth coworkers.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 27 Oct 2007
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.