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A recent news story reveals a staggering inequity in the accessibility of mental health leaves of absence.

For the layperson, securing mental health leave is a complicated and time-consuming process.

Fairness and accessibility of mental health benefits and accommodations is a nonpartisan issue.

For four months, New Jersey congressman Thomas Kean, Jr. was off the radar, missing 100 congressional votes. Constituents and media outlets did not know his whereabouts or why he had suddenly vanished. Recently, Congressman Kean revealed that he had been seeking treatment for depression, which had required him to take a four-month-long leave of absence. While we must continue to applaud those in the public eye for sharing their mental health struggles and for being transparent about serious issues like depression, we must also pay attention to discrepancies in how these types of accommodations are available to the general public versus to the elite and powerful.

The Excruciating Reality of Getting Leave

In my decade as a clinical social worker, I have helped many clients secure mental health-related benefits, in the form of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or through their companies’ human resources departments. In each case, the process is convoluted,........

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