Taking a mental health day is something most of us have probably done, but it isn’t something many people admit to.
Madalyn Parker is a web developer for Olark Live Chat. According to USA Today, she suffers from chronic depression and anxiety. Last month, she sent an email to her co-workers and told them she was using two sick days to focus on her mental health.
Too distracted by my health (anxious, depressed, injured) to be effective at work.
Too worried about my work to be effective at self care.
— madalyn (@madalynrose) June 28, 2017
She said she wanted to be upfront about the reason she was using her sick days so other employees would feel comfortable doing the same thing.
CEO Ben Congleton saw her email and thanked her for reminding everyone about the importance of mental health.
When the CEO responds to your out of the office email about taking sick leave for mental health and reaffirms your decision. ? pic.twitter.com/6BvJVCJJFq
— madalyn (@madalynrose) June 30, 2017
Parker posted a screenshot on Twitter of their conversation, and the tweet has since gone viral with thousands of people online applauding Congleton’s response and thanking him for acknowledging the importance of mental health in the workplace.
