Live Q&A: Should I disclose my mental health problem at work? | Guardian careers | guardian.co.uk

Live Q&A: Should I disclose my mental health problem at work?

What are the pros and cons of disclosing a mental health issue to your employer? A panel of experts answer all your questions live on Friday 20 May from 1pm to 3pm

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Many employers fear the consequences of telling their boss they are suffering from stress. Photograph: Getty Images

Charity worker Chloe faced a dilemma; her work was suffering as a result of her depression following a car crash and her boss was breathing down her neck about her poor performance. Deciding she had nothing to lose, she explained to her employer what she was going through.

It was a move worth making - as Mind revealed in a Careers blog, Chloe was overwhelmed by the positive response, including being offered support including weekly catch-ups to prioritise her workload, flexible working and afternoon naps to help her cope with the side effects of her medication.

Unfortunately though, new research from Mind shows not all outcomes are as positive as Chloe's. The charity found one in five workers who had disclosed a mental health issue at work said they had been fired or forced to quit.

It's no wonder, then, that the poll from Mind also revealed one in five people are scared of losing their job if they admit they are suffering from stress. However, Mind CEO Paul Farmer says there are reasons to be positive though, as research suggests a large amount of employers say they are happy to discuss mental health issues with a job applicant.

To find out more about the pros and cons of disclosing a mental health issue in the workplace, how to approach your employer and what sort of support is available, we've teamed up with Mind to answer these questions and more in a live Q&A on Friday 20 May.

Join us from 1pm to 3pm - advance questions welcome below.

To keep up-to-date with our regular Q&A sessions, you can now sign-up for our newsletter here.

Our panel:

Emma Mamo is a policy and campaigns manager at mental health charity Mind. Emma has worked in the disability sector since 2005 and joined Mind in 2007, where she specialises in mental health and employment.

Amy Whitelock is a senior policy and campaigns pfficer at Mind. Amy has worked in public policy and campaigning since 2007 and joined Mind in 2009, where she leads Mind's Taking care of business campaign and policy work on employment, equality and disability rights.

Eugene Farrell provides health and wellbeing consultancy services to major employers in the UK and around the world. He has worked with mental health providers, charities and the government advising on the management of mental health in the workplace.

Philip Landau is the Guardian Careers legal expert and an employment law solicitor and partner at Landau Zeffertt Weir.

Louise Shevlane is partner relationship manager at The Work Foundation, an independent authority on work and its future. Louise ensures the foundation's network of partnering organisations are kept up to date with the latest evidence-based research into improving the world of work. Her key area of interest is health and wellbeing at work, and in particular mental health.

Ksenia Zheltoukhova is a researcher in the health and wellbeing team at The Work Foundation.

via careers.guardian.co.uk