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Before you talk with the boss - What would the point of disclosing be?
Your boss is more than likely to ask this question - “what accommodations are you looking for?”
There is no playbook for managers that they can refer to about typical accommodations. You have to know what you need and what you need from your manager.
What you can do right now is talk to your boss about the trouble you are having at work and what support you need to get through the trouble. (Mental health doesn’t necessarily need to be part of this conversation). But if your performance is impacted, showing you have thought about what is going on and having an idea of how to move forward does play in your favor.
Well, I’m by no means a doctor, but I do hear that anxiety and ADHD overlap a lot. Not sure how workplace accommodations work there. Consider asking for specific support that avoids naming it, perhaps. Every company, department, and manager deals with that differently, gauge how you feel bringing it up, and go from there.
Why do you want to disclose?
Never disclose. It very often comes back to bite people, even those who think they have a supportive boss or work at a supportive company. Do a quick google search or look at Reddit and you’ll see tons of sad stories about this. You may be able to ask for tips or suggestions on things you’re struggling with, but unfortunately we really just have to work on developing our own mechanisms and supporting ourselves. The world is simply not at that place yet.
I think you can still ask for reasonable accommodations without a diagnosis, or let them know that a diagnosis is pending. I would encourage you to consider what works really help you at work and ask your boss if they’d be willing to facilitate that to help with your productivity. For example, I don’t work at a place that allows remote working, but I requested one day to WFH in order to do deep work and really focus because being in the distracting office tanks my productivity. My boss was fine making an exception because I stated my case and shared what would help me. Maybe you could try that?
I don’t think relying on your manager for this is going to be very useful. Your manager may make sure to follow your company’s process, but they won’t know your condition well.
You should think through what you struggle with, and you can then think of what would make it easier for you and use ChatGPT to help figure out ideas that are suitable for accommodations. Then you can propose those back to your manager. That’s more likely to help you find workable accommodations.
Good luck, I hope you're able to get some clarity from your doctor soon. I don't know what to advise regarding disclosure because I've never wanted to do this myself. I know my company says it supports its employees' mental health, but I don't know if I believe it. I don't want my ADHD to potentially be weaponized against me, so I just keep it to myself, take my medication and do my best to continue exceeding expectations.
I think it depends 100% on the environment at your workplace. If they are supportive of ailments and disorders, then I absolutely would. If they're not, then I would not, but that's just speaking from my own experience. I was not taken seriously by my company, and it actually made an already challenging situation even more challenging.