This next section is intended to offer people receiving services the opportunity to decide if and when they wish to disclose personal information to others while considering the risks/benefits/pros and cons. Disclosure is not an all or nothing concept — for example, some people may decide to partially disclose information, while others may choose to disclose in some circumstances but not others. These are personal choices and our hope is to ensure that people are in the driver’s seat of any information they choose to disclose. The following points may be of benefit when talking about disclosure to people seeking services and their loved ones.
Each of us continually decides when and to whom we disclose personal information. The decisions we make can have an impact on many aspects of our lives: friendships, family relations, and financial matters, to name just a few examples, and ultimately can affect our well-being and recovery journey.
The most important thing is to remember that decisions about who, when, where, how, and the amount of information you share should rest with every individual. The person living with any mental health condition (or any aspect of personal life) is in control — do not let anyone manipulate you or others into sharing more than you or someone else feels comfortable sharing.
Although the focus of this module is on mental health and specifically disclosure of mental health information, disclosing information about other aspects of our lives can have significant impacts on our mental health. Sometimes, these impacts can be positive; other times they can be negative. For example, disclosing financial information can help an individual obtain housing or other needed benefits. However, if information is disclosed to the wrong person, this can jeopardize someone’s ability to sustain housing and obtain essential services, leading to possible stigmatization, stress, or relapse and unwanted setbacks.
Similarly, disclosing information one’s mental health condition to family or friends can have positive impacts by encouraging family closeness and leading to increased support, or by helping friendships develop and become closer. However, if personal information is disclosed to the wrong person, this can lead to bullying, unwanted attention, intrusions on social media, stigmatization, and stress. As with other negative effects, this can lead to relapse or setbacks in one’s recovery. Disclosing health status information to an employer or potential employer can also have positive or negative effects.
One potential positive effect could be that the employer takes steps to make workplace accommodations such as adjusting work hours, changing job duties or settings that are stressful, or permitting flexibility in number of hours worked. There can also be potential for negative effects such as discrimination in assignment of duties and responsibilities, which can lead to lessened promotional opportunities or pay, as well as potentially increased stigmatization, stress, and setbacks in one’s mental health recovery.