7 Reasons Mental Health Awareness Month Still Fails Neurodivergent Employees (And What Workplaces Should Do Instead)
Mental Health Awareness Month is loud, but who is it really speaking to?
Neurodivergent employees see the campaigns, the social media graphics, and the wellness webinars, but rarely see themselves reflected in the messaging.
When these conversations are built around neurotypical norms, they overlook the reality of ADHD, autism, and other neurodivergent experiences. Instead of offering real support, they often reinforce systems that leave neurodivergent folks feeling more excluded than empowered.
Too many of these campaigns highlight mental health and wellbeing while ignoring structural barriers, masking expectations, and the lived distress of people navigating an inaccessible workplace.
But here's the thing: awareness without action can be deeply harmful.
In this article, we’re digging into seven reasons why Mental Health Awareness Month continues to fail neurodivergent employees, and what workplaces should do instead if they’re serious about inclusion, care, and real change.
1) Awareness Doesn't Always Mean Access
Mental Health Awareness Month is often heavy on slogans but light on solutions. For neurodivergent employees, this performative awareness can feel especially alienating. While mental health and wellbeing are frequently promoted as universal concerns, many campaigns are still built around a narrow, neurotypical understanding of what mental distress looks like and how it should be addressed.
This leaves neurodivergent people with ADHD, autism, or other non-typical neurotypes feeling erased from the conversation. Their challenges aren't simply about stress or burnout. Instead, they often involve chronic sensory overload, communication differences, or executive dysfunction that don’t get mentioned in awareness campaigns at all.
Without tailored language or action, these campaigns risk reinforcing the idea that neurodivergent mental health doesn’t exist. Or worse, that it’s not valid unless it fits within a neurotypical framework.
True access has to be more than just awareness. It should include rethinking how we frame, fund, and respond to mental health at work, with neurodivergent needs explicitly considered and supported.
2) The Workplace Itself Is Often the Trigger
Workplaces love to talk about supporting employee mental health, but what happens when the workplace itself is the root of the problem? For many neurodivergent employees’ mental health problems are not just a result of their workload. More often than not, it is the structure, culture, and expectations at their workplaces that make day-to-day functioning so difficult.
Open-plan offices, rigid schedules, and high-stimulation environments can cause chronic distress, especially for people with ADHD or autism.
Constant Slack messages, back-to-back meetings, and zero quiet space aren't just inconvenient, but can be damaging. This is why conversations around mental health at work need to shift from generic wellness initiatives to a more nuanced understanding of what actually causes harm.
When neurodivergent employees are forced to adapt to environments that don’t support their cognitive and sensory needs, their mental health suffers. Without structural changes, workplaces will continue to be the silent trigger behind a lot of mental health decline, especially for those already navigating a complex set of internal and external challenges.
3) Mental Health Days Won't Heal Ableism
Offering mental health days at work might look good on paper, but without meaningful change, they can be somewhat of a band-aid. For neurodivergent employees, a day off doesn't counteract the cumulative toll of sensory overload, chronic masking, inaccessible expectations, and lack of autonomy.
The problem is more than just burnout. It’s the system that causes it.
Neurodivergent employees often come back from so-called “recovery days” only to find their inbox full, their stress untouched, and the same inaccessible environment waiting for them (the one that contributed to their burnout in the first place…).
4) Neurodiverse Employees Are Expected to "Just Cope"
Neurodivergent employees are often seen as doing “just fine” until they crash. This is especially true for those with functioning ADHD, where outward productivity masks an ongoing, unsustainable effort to meet neurotypical expectations. But performing well doesn’t equal being well.
For many neurodivergent employees, that polished performance is propped up by a relentless cycle: pushing through breaks, skipping meals, staying late to meet deadlines, or working after hours to make up for time lost to executive dysfunction. “Coping” often means sacrificing basic needs just to appear fine.
When people with ADHD or autism with anxiety are praised for being adaptable or “resilient”, what’s ignored is the invisible labour it takes to maintain that facade. What people don’t see is the emotional regulation, masking, overpreparation, and constant self-monitoring in environments not built to support them.
Add the pressure of high-masking roles into the mix, and you’re left with a workforce that’s exhausted, under-supported, and assumed to be fine simply because they’re not visibly falling apart. But that is not what wellness looks like. It’s silent burnout in the making.
5) Real Inclusion Means Changing the System - Not the Person
Too many “mental health support” initiatives aim to help neurodivergent employees survive in systems that were never built with them in mind. This often leads to masking, burnout, and long-term disengagement, especially for those dealing with co-occurring conditions like autism and depression.
The emphasis on "resilience" and "coping strategies" can convey that success means adapting to inaccessible norms. But reasonable adjustments for mental health aren’t about making exceptions. They should be about designing systems that work. This includes flexible scheduling, sensory-safe workspaces, asynchronous communication options, and support tailored to individual needs.
If workplaces want to support mental health and wellbeing meaningfully, they must rethink more than benefits packages and awareness campaigns. Inclusion starts by redesigning the structures that cause harm, not just helping people endure them.
Neurodivergent employees shouldn’t have to twist themselves into neurotypical moulds to be seen, heard, or supported. And when it comes to building truly inclusive environments, the responsibility lies with the system, not the individual.
6) Managers Aren’t Trained to Support Neurodivergent Staff
When it comes to talking to your employer about mental health, neurodivergent employees often face an uphill battle. Line managers - usually the first point of contact - are rarely trained to respond appropriately, mainly when the conversation includes conditions like ADHD or autism.
Without education about ADHD, mental health, or sensory and communication needs, managers may inadvertently shut down or dismiss requests for support. This can lead to misunderstandings, stigma, or worse: employees choosing not to disclose their condition and continue to suffer without support.
7) Employers Still Don’t Understand Access to Work
One of the most overlooked and underutilised tools for supporting neurodivergent employees is the UK government’s Access to Work scheme, which includes a mental health support service as well. The Access to Work program offers funding for practical adjustments like coaching, specialist software, assistive technology, and transport. It exists to reduce barriers at work, but most people have never even heard of it, or they’re unsure about how it could help them.
That’s a massive failure on the part of employers. HR teams, line managers, and leadership should actively inform staff of their eligibility and help them apply. Instead, reasonable adjustments at work for mental health are often treated as optional extras or awkward exceptions, leaving employees to figure everything out alone.
What Workplaces Should Actually Do
Workplace mental health strategies can't be one-size-fits-all, especially when it comes to supporting neurodivergent employees. Organisations must build inclusive structures year-round to move beyond surface-level campaigns during Mental Health Awareness Month.
This means creating policies and cultures that address the real barriers neurodivergent people face in maintaining their mental health and wellbeing at work.
Here are four actions employers can take to actually make a difference:
1) Make access to work mental health support standard, not secret
Include this in onboarding materials, internal portals, and every HR meeting. Don’t wait for someone to ask.
2) Normalise reasonable adjustments for mental health.
These aren’t nice-to-haves, bonuses, or rewards. They’re essential for supporting sustainable performance. Examples include flexible working hours, sensory accommodations, and project workflows that support different executive functioning styles.
3) Invest in manager training focused on employee mental health
General awareness is not enough. Managers need tools and language that help them support neurodivergent staff effectively.
4) Talk to your teams
Instead of assuming what neurodivergent people need, ask. Make feedback loops part of your inclusion model.
Key Takeaways
Supporting mental health at work isn’t about offering blanket fixes or feel-good slogans. Instead, it’s about redesigning systems to meet real, diverse needs. The goal isn’t to “fix” neurodivergent employees. It’s to dismantle the structural barriers that make work harder, more exhausting, and often unsustainable.
Neurodivergent mental health support shouldn't hinge on who self-advocates the best, who masks the quietest, or who’s already in crisis. It should be embedded from the start as a standard, not just brought out when someone makes a special request for it.
Need Mental Health Support at Work? I Can Help.
Hi, I’m Anita. I help neurodivergent people navigate burnout, overwhelm, and workplaces that weren’t built with us in mind. I also work with employers ready to move beyond awareness campaigns and create environments where neurodivergent staff can thrive.
Whether you’re figuring out your rights through Access to Work or you’re an employer ready to create lasting, inclusive change, I’m here to support you.
Book a free clarity call to explore how we can build systems that work for neurodivergent people, not against them.
FAQs: Mental Health, Neurodivergence, and Workplace Adjustments
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Mental Health Awareness Month happens every May. It’s a time to raise awareness, reduce stigma, and encourage open conversations about mental wellbeing.
And here in the UK, Mental Health Awareness Week (13–19 May 2025) adds another spotlight on the importance of mental health - especially in our workplaces.
But for many people - especially those who are neurodivergent or living with chronic mental health conditions - this isn’t just a week or a month. It’s a daily reality.
Awareness is a great first step. But what we really need is action: accessible workplaces, compassionate leadership, and systems that support mental health all year round.
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Yes. Access to Work is a UK government scheme that can provide practical support for people with mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression, ADHD, and autism. It can fund workplace coaching, noise-cancelling tech, travel support, or even a mental health support worker. Many people don't know this help exists, but it can be a game-changer for staying in work without burning out.
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Neurodivergent burnout isn't just feeling tired. It's a deep exhaustion from constantly masking, adapting, and navigating environments not designed for you.
For autistic and ADHD folks, ADHD or autistic burnout can look like sensory overload, shutdowns, emotional dysregulation, and even physical symptoms like migraines or fatigue. Many describe it as feeling “numb”, “detached”, or like they're running on empty. It's often mistaken for laziness or low motivation, but it's a sign of unmet access needs.
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Plenty. Reasonable adjustments can include things like:
Flexible start and finish times
Quiet workspaces or permission to use noise-cancelling headphones
Written instructions instead of verbal only
Reduced hours during crisis, relapse, or recovery
Regular check-ins with a supportive manager
These adjustments are examples of what can make mental health at work sustainable. And under the Equality Act 2010, you're legally entitled to them.For more information on this, check out the ACAS website.
