[LiteraryLark]

It's a lot easier to lie and call in "sick" than it is to call in to care for your mental health.

I feel a tremendous guilt to lie tomorrow to get out of work by calling in sick, when in reality, I need a day to take care of my mental health.

I tried google searching to find a way to call in for a mental health day, and there is no easy answer. Most articles say to just lie and say you're sick, you have a migraine, you threw up all night. No one had an answer to say, "you're burned out, you've been riding anxiety attacks all week, you're on the brink of a mental meltdown, your symptoms are causing you grief."

It's easier to say, "I feel sick physically" than it is to say, "My mental health is suffering."

What a messed up world we live in.

[downandlonely]

I don't think it's a lie to say you're sick if you don't elaborate. Mental illness counts as sickness. Also with the Health Information Privacy Act, you don't have to tell them what "kind of sick" you are.

[divine1966]

When you say you are sick then you are sick, which could mean physical or mental. Yes it is usually easier to talk about physical illness than mental but some physical illnesses might be just as uncomfortable to disclose. For example: “I can’t work because I am in a lot of pain because my hemoroid flared up bad and i can’t sit , my chronic STD flared up and it hurts badly (or itches) etc etc” You’d likely lie in those cases too.

In general unless they insist on you providing details, you don’t need to disclose neither physical nor mental discomfort