{"id":148132,"date":"2026-04-28T08:00:48","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T12:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/?post_type=articles&p=148132"},"modified":"2026-04-28T17:07:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T21:07:46","slug":"rethinking-leadership-training-to-support-employees-living-with-bipolar-i-disorder","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/articles\/leadership\/rethinking-leadership-training-to-support-employees-living-with-bipolar-i-disorder\/","title":{"rendered":"Rethinking Leadership Training to Support Employees Living With Bipolar I Disorder"},"author":52,"featured_media":148135,"template":"","tags":[166,1408,2543],"class_list":["post-148132","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-leadership-development","tag-manager-training","tag-mental-health","global_topic_tax-compliance","global_topic_tax-diversity-equity-and-inclusion","global_topic_tax-leadership"],"acf":{"sponsored":false,"gated":false,"gated_content_type":"","file_attachment":null,"gated_content":"","form_instruction_header":"To access the full article, please fill out the form below:","pardot_html_embed":"","author_override":true,"author_name":"Rebecca Barbee PA-C, CAQ-Psych","author_image":"","author_bio":"Rebecca Barbee is a physician associate at Southlake Psychiatry in Davidson, NC and has over 13 years of clinical experience in psychiatry, with a well-developed skill set in patient assessment, psychopharmacology, addiction psychiatry and general psychiatry.","excerpt":"Leaders can better support employees with serious mental illness by building awareness, improving communication and providing meaningful workplace support systems.","main_content":"It is estimated that upwards of 1 in 5 U.S. adults experience mental illness<\/a> each year, with 1 in 20 experiencing what is categorized as serious mental illness (SMI). Despite ongoing advocacy and awareness efforts to decrease stigma, misunderstanding continues to surround these conditions, and what it means to live and work with one.\r\n\r\nBipolar I disorder (BD-I) is an SMI that can affect mood, energy and thinking. People living with BD-I experience not only episodes of depression, but also periods of elevated mood, known as mania. For BD-I, like other SMIs, public assumptions are shaped by sensationalized stories in the news or movies, portraying the diagnosis as a weakness or a liability. In reality, so many people with BD-I thrive in their lives and careers, capitalizing on their creativity and deep skill sets. As a mental health clinician, though, I have seen how lingering external beliefs about instability can affect a person\u2019s job performance. Seeing the weight of stress and stigma compound and interfere with someone\u2019s wellbeing underscores the value of talking openly about mental health, including in a workplace context, to ensure support is in place.\r\n

Building SMI Awareness Into Leadership Culture<\/h2>\r\nLeadership development<\/a> is an established part of many companies\u2019 culture, including investments in talent identification, manager training and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. When it comes to mental health and supporting employees living with SMI, however, these programs are often viewed as insufficient. While effective and well-intentioned, these resources are often not designed to deliver education and understanding about SMI in the workplace.\r\n\r\nFor example, people managers should be intentionally equipped to help their colleagues living with SMI navigate possible accommodations. Someone living with BD-I may benefit from being able to work hours that better suit their productivity style, schedule medical appointments during the workday or even take a leave of absence if their symptoms significantly recur. This doesn\u2019t change the standards or scope of their job but gives them space to manage their needs.\r\n\r\nOutside of immediate supervisory relationships, awareness building among human resources (HR) and leadership teams informs understanding of what conditions like BD-I can look like and how they can show up in the workplace. Benefits plans should be clear in what access and resources they offer. Broader awareness moments can be leveraged to share perspectives from psychiatric and mental health experts. Commitments like these reflect an organization\u2019s willingness to learn directly from those living with SMI.\r\n

Building Communication Skills to Support Employees<\/h2>\r\nThinking about specific skills that leadership development programs should encourage to support employees living with SMI, word choice and communication style matter. More factual awareness helps leaders avoid coming across as unintentionally mean, rude or uneducated. When we have the right knowledge and language, dialogue becomes more effective.\r\n\r\nManagers should receive training on how to respond if and when an employee discloses their SMI diagnosis. This may depend on the context or setting in which it is introduced. From an employer\u2019s standpoint, it\u2019s important to be clear about what questions can or should be asked or avoided to respect privacy.\r\n\r\nFor example, performance reviews<\/a> are a routine workplace interaction that can benefit from the right sort of communication and process transparency. It can help to know ahead of time the format and expectations, the different measurements being used and practical next steps. Staying focused and specific, and maintaining an unbiased and nonjudgmental approach, can make a difference.\r\n\r\nBoth managers and employees should feel they can ask for feedback along the way and at the end of the review, pose any questions and confirm nothing was missed that should be considered. This helps create a two-way dialogue, rather than feeling one-sided, and can make these conversations feel clearer and more consistent for someone who may be navigating life with an SMI.\r\n\r\nAt any point in an employment relationship, mental illness needs to be treated with the same importance as a physical disability. If someone has had surgery and needs physical accommodations, there is generally no concern about bringing that to leadership. Someone living with BD-I, however, may hesitate to say they are experiencing a manic or depressive episode, unsure how that information will be received or used. Managerial preparation can help reassure all employees they are safe to raise their needs for awareness or help.\r\n\r\nIncorporating mental health into leadership training<\/a> does not have to be overly clinical. It can be grounded in education that feels accessible. Hearing from a patient advocate can put a face to the diagnosis and their lived experience. An informational video can offer helpful background. A clinician could present myths and facts about living with an SMI, especially if employers do not have any direct connection to it.\r\n

Moving Beyond Surface-Level Support<\/h2>\r\nTangible support comes down to what resources are actually available, which is influenced by company culture. Employees need to know if they have access to mental health services through insurance or employee assistance programs for therapy, what prescription medications are covered and how flexible their work schedule can be if they need added care. It matters, too, how clearly and frequently this information is communicated.\r\n\r\nOnboarding<\/a> is a particularly vulnerable time for someone living with BD-I, when their insurance may be in flux, which can affect how easily they receive their prescribed medications, and they are adapting to a new place, job and routine. When new employees learn about benefits offered due to a physical injury, they should be equally informed of support for their mental health needs. In either scenario, this should include available access to therapeutic services, terms and duration, or leaves of absence.\r\n\r\nSome of the ways organizations promote employee wellness can feel insincere \u2014 even with the best intentions \u2014 if they don\u2019t address what people actually need. What matters is having actionable support in place, like covered access to care, along with clear systems or early intervention measures that step in before someone reaches a crisis point. That includes checking in with employees about how they are doing and what their schedules look like, implementing methods to reduce overall stress in the workplace and fostering a culture that recognizes individual needs.\r\n\r\nIn the U.S., we tend to embrace a philosophy of \u201cpushing through,\u201d working hard and keeping our personal lives separate. That is starting to shift. For most of us, work is an everyday experience, touching and influencing so many other parts of our lives, so meaningfully supporting mental health becomes part of creating a sustainable workplace.\r\n\r\nAs organizations continue to invest in leadership development, there is an opportunity to build a more informed and practical approach to mental health in the workplace. That starts with improving understanding, prioritizing communication and making sure real systems are in place to support employees. When leaders have that foundation, they are better equipped to support employees living with complex conditions like BD-I and to create a workplace where people feel more stable, more supported and able to thrive in their roles.","full_width":false,"content_band":[{"acf_fc_layout":"social_callout","blockquote":"At any point in an employment relationship, mental illness needs to be treated with the same importance as a physical disability."},{"acf_fc_layout":"content_area","wysiwyg":"[hubspot type=\"form\" portal=\"47185625\" id=\"464eee04-af9e-4158-84a5-a4b4e1b4a1c0\" version=\"v4\"]"}],"tice_sponsors":"","custom_dfp_keywords":""},"yoast_head":"\nSupporting Mental Health in the Workplace: A Guide for Leaders<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover how leaders can better support mental health at work with communication, awareness and meaningful employee support systems.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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