An inter-disciplinary review of the literature on mental illness disclosure in the workplace: implications for human resource management

Abstract

The purpose of this review is to consolidate the stock of empirical research relating to the disclosure or concealment of mental illness in the workplace. We present a comprehensive framework for understanding the challenges that employees and job applicants face surrounding mental illness and identity management. This review aims to synthesize the findings of studies pertaining to the decision to disclose (or not) mental illnesses in the workplace and to channel the findings into a comprehensive model that can serve as a stepping-stone for future research in the field of human resource management (HRM). From the review, we found that organizational support, social support, and individual differences were key antecedents of the decision to disclose. Disclosure also affects outcomes such as access to accommodations and support programs, helping behaviors, psychological wellbeing, and employment success. Practically speaking, this research contributes to the development of a safe and diverse organizational climate in which all employees, regardless of mental illness, feel included in their work environment.

Keywords:

• Disclosure
• HRM
• identity management
• mental illness
• stigma

Acknowledgments

We want to thank the SI editors and three anonymous reviewers for helpful comments and suggestions in the development of this paper. The first author acknowledges support for her PhD study from the 5000 Doctors Program – Ministry of Religious Affairs, Republic of Indonesia.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.

Additional information

Funding

.This study was funded by 5000 Doctors Program, Ministry of Religious Affairs, Republic of Indonesia