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Millions of Americans living with mental health conditions lead happy, successful lives. People with very serious mental health and substance abuse problems might have trouble with basic needs, like finding a place to live, a job, or health care. Learn more about your legal rights, finding a job, and how to stay healthy during stressful transitions.
Many people with mental health conditions can and do work. Finding a job you enjoy can help improve your mental health and give you a sense of purpose. Studies show that most adults with a serious or severe mental health condition want to work1 and about 6 out of 10 can succeed with the right kind of support.2 More than 1 in every 4 women who work have a disability of some type (a physical disability or a mental health condition).3
Women whose mental health conditions have affected their ability to accomplish daily tasks may have more trouble finding a job, especially if they have been out of the workforce for a long time. If you don’t have a full-time job right now, you may want to try a part-time job or volunteering before committing to full-time work. You can also take an online test, called a skills assessment or an interest assessment, which can help you learn more about the types of work you might enjoy.
Check with the mental health agency where you receive mental health services. Your state may offer several different ways to find employment, including:
If you are unable to work because of a mental health condition or any other disability, there are some options for financial support. These include disability insurance and disability payments through Social Security.
If you are a member of the military, you can get your Social Security application processed faster. Learn more at the SSA’s site for veterans.
Most health plans cover preventive services, like depression screening for adults and behavioral assessments for children, at no additional cost. Most health insurance plans must cover treatment for mental health and substance use problems in the same ways medical or surgical problems are covered.
If you do not have insurance, see whether you are eligible for free or low-cost health insurance (including Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Plan) at HealthCare.gov.
Learn more about other resources in your community.
There is no law that requires you to share personal health information, including mental health conditions, with anyone you work with. Telling others about your mental health condition can affect your job in the future. If you want to tell someone you work with about your mental health illness, think about your reasons carefully. It might help to make a list of the good and bad outcomes of telling your manager or someone in human resources.
Your employer must make reasonable accommodations if they know about your mental health condition, but employers do not have to accommodate disabilities that they don’t know about. This may help you decide whether you tell your employer about your mental health condition.
Learn more reasons to tell or not tell your employer about a mental health condition from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Coalition and the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Many federal laws protect the rights of people with disabilities, including mental health conditions. The main law is the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It mostly protects people from discrimination at work and in public places and programs.
Under the ADA, you are protected if:
Other laws that protect people with disabilities include:
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects you from discrimination based on disability, including harassment related to disability. For example, you cannot be fired just because you take medicine for a mental health condition. However, an employer can fire you for poor performance. It is better to ask for reasonable accommodations before a disability causes problems with job performance. Under the ADA:
Examples of reasonable accommodations for people with mental health conditions may include:
An employer does not have to provide these specific accommodations, but these types of accommodations are often considered reasonable for some jobs.
If you have experienced employment discrimination because of your mental health condition, you can file an administrative charge or complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or a state or local anti-discrimination agency. You can also file a lawsuit in court, but only after filing an administrative charge.
The Fair Housing Act bars discrimination in rental housing for people with disabilities. This means that property owners or managers cannot refuse to rent to you because of a disability, including mental health conditions. Learn more about the Fair Housing Act. If you believe you have been discriminated against, you can file a housing complaint online through the Fair Housing Act.
Learn more at the EEOC website or the Department of Justice Disability Rights Section website.
During stressful times like job and housing transitions, you can try the following tips to stay mentally healthy:
Learn more about steps you can take for good mental health.
For more information about working with a mental health condition, call the OWH Helpline at 1-800-994-9662 or check out the following resources:
Enter a city, ZIP code (such as 20002), address, state, or place
Embed this widget on your web site
To receive Mental Health email updates
The Office on Women's Health is grateful for the medical review in 2017 by:
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
Danielle Johnson, M.D., FAPA, Psychiatrist, Medical Staff President, Chief of Adult Psychiatry, Director, Women’s Mental Health Program, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati
Cassidy Gutner, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine; National Center for PTSD, Women’s Health Sciences Division, VA Boston Healthcare System, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Mark A. Lumley, Ph.D., Professor and Director of Clinical Psychology Training, Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, and his Stress and Health Laboratory team: Jennifer Carty, Heather Doherty, Hannah Holmes, Nancy Lockhart, and Sheri Pegram
Mark Chavez, Ph.D., Chief, Eating Disorders Research Program, NIMH
Kamryn T. Eddy, Ph.D., and Jennifer J. Thomas, Ph.D., Associate Professors of Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Co-Directors of the Eating Disorders Clinical and Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital
Kendra Becker, M.S., Clinical Fellow in Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital
Michael Kozak, Ph.D., Division of Adult Translational Research and Treatment Development, NIMH
Alicia Kaplan, M.D., Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Temple University School of Medicine and Drexel University College of Medicine, and Staff Psychiatrist, Division of Adult Services, Department of Psychiatry, Allegheny Health Network, Allegheny General Hospital
All material contained on these pages are free of copyright restrictions and may be copied, reproduced, or duplicated without permission of the Office on Women’s Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Citation of the source is appreciated.
Page last updated: August 28, 2018.
Millions of Americans living with mental health conditions lead happy, successful lives. People with very serious mental health and substance abuse problems might have trouble with basic needs, like finding a place to live, a job, or health care. Learn more about your legal rights, finding a job, and how to stay healthy during stressful transitions.
Many people with mental health conditions can and do work. Finding a job you enjoy can help improve your mental health and give you a sense of purpose. Studies show that most adults with a serious or severe mental health condition want to work1 and about 6 out of 10 can succeed with the right kind of support.2 More than 1 in every 4 women who work have a disability of some type (a physical disability or a mental health condition).3
Women whose mental health conditions have affected their ability to accomplish daily tasks may have more trouble finding a job, especially if they have been out of the workforce for a long time. If you don’t have a full-time job right now, you may want to try a part-time job or volunteering before committing to full-time work. You can also take an online test, called a skills assessment or an interest assessment, which can help you learn more about the types of work you might enjoy.
Check with the mental health agency where you receive mental health services. Your state may offer several different ways to find employment, including:
If you are unable to work because of a mental health condition or any other disability, there are some options for financial support. These include disability insurance and disability payments through Social Security.
If you are a member of the military, you can get your Social Security application processed faster. Learn more at the SSA’s site for veterans.
Most health plans cover preventive services, like depression screening for adults and behavioral assessments for children, at no additional cost. Most health insurance plans must cover treatment for mental health and substance use problems in the same ways medical or surgical problems are covered.
If you do not have insurance, see whether you are eligible for free or low-cost health insurance (including Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Plan) at HealthCare.gov.
Learn more about other resources in your community.
There is no law that requires you to share personal health information, including mental health conditions, with anyone you work with. Telling others about your mental health condition can affect your job in the future. If you want to tell someone you work with about your mental health illness, think about your reasons carefully. It might help to make a list of the good and bad outcomes of telling your manager or someone in human resources.
Your employer must make reasonable accommodations if they know about your mental health condition, but employers do not have to accommodate disabilities that they don’t know about. This may help you decide whether you tell your employer about your mental health condition.
Learn more reasons to tell or not tell your employer about a mental health condition from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Coalition and the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Many federal laws protect the rights of people with disabilities, including mental health conditions. The main law is the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It mostly protects people from discrimination at work and in public places and programs.
Under the ADA, you are protected if:
Other laws that protect people with disabilities include:
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects you from discrimination based on disability, including harassment related to disability. For example, you cannot be fired just because you take medicine for a mental health condition. However, an employer can fire you for poor performance. It is better to ask for reasonable accommodations before a disability causes problems with job performance. Under the ADA:
Examples of reasonable accommodations for people with mental health conditions may include:
An employer does not have to provide these specific accommodations, but these types of accommodations are often considered reasonable for some jobs.
If you have experienced employment discrimination because of your mental health condition, you can file an administrative charge or complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or a state or local anti-discrimination agency. You can also file a lawsuit in court, but only after filing an administrative charge.
The Fair Housing Act bars discrimination in rental housing for people with disabilities. This means that property owners or managers cannot refuse to rent to you because of a disability, including mental health conditions. Learn more about the Fair Housing Act. If you believe you have been discriminated against, you can file a housing complaint online through the Fair Housing Act.
Learn more at the EEOC website or the Department of Justice Disability Rights Section website.
During stressful times like job and housing transitions, you can try the following tips to stay mentally healthy:
Learn more about steps you can take for good mental health.
For more information about working with a mental health condition, call the OWH Helpline at 1-800-994-9662 or check out the following resources:
This content is provided by the Office on Women's Health.
A federal government website managed by the Office on Women's Health in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20201
1-800-994-9662 • Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET (closed on federal holidays).