How to Get Work Accommodations Without Disclosing DID
(Summary) When asking for workplace accommodations, you don’t have to disclose your DID or OSDD diagnosis directly. In this video, I share strategies for minimizing disclosure while still getting the support you need. You’ll learn how using broader or more familiar terms like “complex trauma,” PTSD, depression, or anxiety can protect your privacy while keeping requests valid. We’ll also cover how therapists or physicians can provide letters, and what to expect if you need one.
In this final installment of my series on working with DID or OSDD, I’m going to talk about how to disclose the minimum amount of information about your mental health disability in order to get needed accommodations.
As I discussed last week, one reason to think hard before sharing your DID or OSDD diagnosis with your employer is that they likely have a lot of misconceptions of what that means, such as that you are dangerous as a result. We can thank Hollywood for that.
So, what do you? Well, I suggest discussing other issues. At the most, perhaps you would be able to share that you have “complex trauma” instead of OSDD or DID. This is absolutely true and it’s more vague. You can tell your employer it’s like repeated PTSD that compounds over time. Or, since most people with DID or OSDD also have PTSD, you can tell them you have PTSD.
Other possible diagnoses to use for accommodations might be depression and anxiety. Just be sure that the thing you want accommodations for is something that would be expected for the diagnosis you provide. If you are working with a therapist, they can help you with this and likely provide you with a letter for your employer. If you are not working with a therapist but are getting some sort of medication help from a primary care physician, such as klonipin for panic attacks, you might be able to get the same help from them. Do know that often times there is a charge for such a letter as it takes extra time out of the doctor or therapist’s schedule to write it.
If you’ve got questions about something I didn’t cover in this series, let me know in the comments. I’m always interested to learn what topics you all would like covered when it comes to DID and OSDD. If you’ve got questions about something I didn’t cover in this series, or a question about something else about DID, let me know in the comments.