How to ask for mental health leave

February 22, 2022

If you battle with any mental health issues or have been mentally affected (as many of us have) by the pandemic, you might know that it’s a little harder to take a ‘sick’ day based on ‘invisible’ illnesses.

In the past, mental health has been a topic with a lot of stigmas around it. Mental health was not always considered serious and an attitude of ‘toughen up’ was often taken. This means that taking sick days for this kind of issue also had a stigma around it.

Thankfully, this attitude is changing. Although this should have always been the case, it has recently become more acceptable, even encouraged, to talk about mental health openly and in the context of the workplace. Many organisations are introducing mental health days as a new form of leave.

However, this is not the case everywhere, and even if your workplace is open about mental illness, it can still be daunting to ask for mental health leave given the strong history of stigma around this topic.

So, we have put together a simple guide to help give you the confidence to ask for the mental health leave you may need (and deserve!).

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By Mimi Petrakis • May 5, 2026

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