I was reading an article last week about leadership pipelines and diversity. In the list of 10 systemic barriers to advancement, one stood out for me:

Mental health stigma. “Invisible disabilities are still stigmatised. You hide it because you want to be seen as capable.” Organisations accommodate physical disabilities but rarely neurodiversity or mental health needs.

As the article says, the barriers aren’t confined to one level of the organisation and exist throughout.

As someone with mental health issues that I’ve written about before, I’m still comfortable talking about my anxiety.

But it does make me wonder whether it affects how people see me professionally and whether it ever stops people engaging me for work.