Last week’s SmartBrief on Workforce poll question was If you learned that a co-worker was seriously depressed, would you share that with his or her boss?
- It depends on the situation, 57%
- Yes, 23%
- No, 20%
When does a co-worker’s mental health warrant an intervention? Like most of you (and the readers of the Make Your Case blog at Harvard), I agree that the decision can be fuzzy. For me, the primary criteria would be whether I thought the person was a danger to herself or others and how much it was affecting her work. If I picked up this information secondhand, I would be more likely to approach the person directly and offer help (such as information about the EAP) directly, instead of bringing it up with her boss.
How would you decide when to intervene?