What This Boss Had to Say About Mental Health Will Lift Your Spirits

Taking a mental health day off of work – and telling work that you're doing so – might feel like a risky proposition. But Madalyn Parker did it anyway, and her boss's response ignited a supportive social media frenzy.

Madalyn's original out-of-office email read, "Hey team, I'm taking today and tomorrow to focus on my mental health. Hopefully I'll be back next week refreshed and back to 100%." Parker hasn't shied away from discussing her anxiety and depression, CBS News reports, and has written about it in the past.

Parker's boss – Ben Congleton, CEO of Olark, a live chat service – took the time to respond to the email, much to her appreciation.

"Hey Madalyn, I just wanted to personally thank you for sending emails like this," he wrote. "Every time you do, I use it as a reminder of the importance of using sick days for mental health – I can't believe this is not standard practice at all organizations. You are an example to us all, and help cut through the stigma so we can all bring our whole selves to work."

After asking Congleton for permission, Parker shared the email on social media. It gathered more than 14,000 retweets and more than 40,000 likes as of Wednesday afternoon.

"When the CEO responds to your out-of-the-office email about taking sick leave for mental health and reaffirms your decision," her tweet read, along with a "100" emoji signifying her strong approval of the message. The tweet included a screenshot of the email.

The responses to the tweet made Congleton cry.

"Wow I WISH!!! I had a boss who LITERALLY told me he was going to fire me for having depression because it was "inconvenient," one response read.

Congleton rattled off statistics in a blog post, including that just 73 percent of full-time U.S. employees have paid sick leave.

"It's 2017. I cannot believe that it is still controversial to speak about mental health in the workplace when 1 in 6 Americans are medicated for mental health," he wrote.

While many companies are making strides when it comes to mental health, it's not happening everywhere. When 1,501 workers were surveyed last year by the American Psychological Association, less than half said they felt their company supported the well-being of employees, CBS News reports.

Toward the end of his blog post, Congleton advocated for expressing gratitude to your co-workers and thinking of what you can do to help them feel they are in a safe space. Those who have or are looking for ideas can shoot him an email at benc@olark.com.