John Moe: writer, humorist, and National Public Radio host, has recently released his memoir "The Hilarious World of Depression."  The book, which was developed from his podcast series of the same name, is based on his own experience with clinical depression. Both the book and the series use funny, moving, and candid conversations to provide insight into how to approach and manage mental illness.  This is the final blog post of the series that shares his perspective on mental health.

“The CEO of a large company came up to me after a speaking engagement and told me all about his daughter’s struggles with mental health.  It wasn’t to get my advice or prove a point about something. He just wanted to tell me about it.  I think being able to share stories like that — especially in the workplace — allows touchy subjects like mental health to be a lot less daunting and makes a difference.”

John Moe's diagnosis of depressive disorder in 2006 has given him tremendous insight into the importance of sharing stories about mental illness. He feels this can benefit everyone affected by these disorders to feel supported and less alone.

"It was after my brother committed suicide in 2007, that I had days where I couldn't work. And fortunately, I had people around me at my job at the time who got it and understood."

It was that tragic incident that prompted John to share his personal experience managing depression with his co-workers, and ultimately, with a national audience on his radio show and podcast series.

"Since I was on the air and a fairly public figure, there was one point that I went to the HR person and said I want to start talking about this more because if I don't then I'm not being truthful about myself.  She told me to do it and take the lead on this because even she deals with mental illness and hadn’t talked about it as much as she’d like.”

John considers himself fortunate that his company was supportive of him and his efforts to help others with mental illness.  He understands the importance of his employer recognizing his mental health needs and treating him as a valuable member of their team. In most workplaces, he acknowledges, this is not the situation, which he thinks can be detrimental for everyone involved. "If companies approach employees dealing with mental illness like they're disposable, 'if you can't hack it, quit. We'll get someone else,' then that's going to be hugely damaging to that employee, the employer, and the economy.”

"If companies approach employees dealing with mental illness like they're disposable, 'if you can't hack it, quit. We'll get someone else,' then that's going to be hugely damaging to that employee, the employer, and the economy.”

A major contributing factor to this destructive approach toward mental illness is the stigma surrounding it. John tells us it’s so widespread that even health care professionals don’t use the word stigma anymore, "they call it discrimination because that's what it is."

"If companies are saying that 'a person can't be trusted' because they're depressed, that's in the same category as saying 'they can't be trusted' because of their race or their sexua1 orientation.  It’s just fear talking and lack of knowledge”

As disturbing as this realization may be, John feels most employers are ready to make a change in their approach toward mental illness. He believes HealthPartners’ Make It OK initiative can help them send the message to their employees that “we’re going to end this discrimination and do something positive in the world of mental health.”

By adopting the strategies of this initiative to normalize mental illness, John is confident that employers will create a more humane place to work where "they're going to get more productivity, but most importantly they're just doing good for the world.”