# Kody's book, Minds Over Meetings

- **Episode:** [153](https://agents.truthliesandwork.com/episodes/153.md) (2024-12-12)
- **Type:** interview
- **Tags:** book, mental-health, workplace
- **Time:** 35:34–39:41 (start 2134s)
- **Listen:** [https://truthliesandwork.com/153?t=2134](https://truthliesandwork.com/153?t=2134)

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[35:34] Kody Green: Yeah, and I mean, basically everything that we've talked about has been the main drivers in why I wanted to write this book. Um, I felt so disappointed when a doctor told me I would never work again. Uh, and I, I remember the, the very first story I tell in the book is actually not about my experience with the doctor. It was about going into HR and disclosing my illness for the first time. And I talk about how nervous I was and how scared I was. And, um, with everything going on in my life, I was just terrified that I might lose that job. Uh, and instead I was met with support and they had resources for me. And I was able to start looking into things like EAPs or employee assistant programs. I was able to start utilizing FMLA so that if I missed time, I wouldn't be automatically let go for, um, needing psychiatric care or having to be in the hospital for several days. And so all of the sudden I found that just talking about it gave me the opportunity to have more access to resources. It gave me the ability to hold jobs longer. It gave me the ability to not only get a job, but to thrive with a company. Um, and I can't tell you the amount of times that I've met with patients and all I hear is them wanting to go back to work, but either a doctor or a caregiver or a parent told them that it's not possible. They're, they're just going to be on disability and that is what it is. Um, and for me, that's so crushing because I, I was told that, you know, and I want people with, uh, not just a mental illness diagnosis. But let's not forget that everyone has mental health, which means everyone at some point can experience mental health issues. That is just— that's the reality of our world, is every single person can and usually will experience some sort of severe mental health issue. And we see burnout— workplaces being the number one cause of burnout in people. So Um, all of this is really so— it's already very integrated, and we just haven't been addressing it in the way that it should be. And so I wanted to write a book not just for people with mental illness, not just for people who might be going through struggles with mental health, but I wanted to give it as a resource to anyone with an invisible disability, anyone who, uh, really just wants that that knowledge of what to do as a worker if something— if working is something that they're interested in trying again. Because it is important to acknowledge that not everyone with my diagnosis will be able to work. That unfortunately is also a truth that a lot of people with severe mental illness, because of the maybe late onset or not early access to medication, whatever it is, Some people will be left, uh, either in a cognitive state or symptomatic state that doesn't give them the opportunity to return to work. But there are people out there, and I've met them all over the country. I, I talk to people all over the world through social media who have diagnoses, who believe that they can start working again. Um, and I wanna make sure that we're utilizing this, this underused, uh, workforce because, uh, You know, it's— there's such high unemployment rates with, with every, every type of either disability, mental illness, or, um, developmental disability. And these people want to work, they want to have a purpose, and they're not able to find it without the right accommodations
[39:20] Al Elliott: Kody is obviously an incredible ambassador for people with schizophrenia, but he's also got firsthand experience of how businesses can get it wrong when trying to make reasonable adjustments for someone like him in the workplace. So Leanne asked Kody for advice for leaders and HR professionals on what they should be doing to provide more support. Oh, and if you think this is going to be difficult or expensive, Kody has a message just for you