Katharina, a star consultant at Pierce, begins exhibiting bizarre behavior like mood swings and fights with her superior after breaking up with her boyfriend. Experts advise that she likely has bipolar disorder, which is treatable but often stigmatized. They say Pierce should educate managers about such illnesses and work with Katharina to identify a reasonable accommodation like medical leave before considering dismissal, to avoid potential legal issues around discrimination or disability. Bipolar disorder affects over 10 million people annually in India but remains underdiagnosed due to stigma.

1. LOSING IT
by Diane L.Coutu
Presented by:
Upasana Singh
Neha Goyal
Deepak Nanda
Akshay Hooda
Gurkirat Singh
(Group-27)

2. The Actors
– Katharina Waldburg - Young consultant at Pierce.
Graduated with a congratulatory first from Oxford.
– Harry Beecham - Managing Director of Pierce and
Company.
– Karl Von Schwerin - Director in Pierce’s Berlin office.
– Roland Fuoroli - Manages Berlin office and direct superior
of Katharina.
– Hugh - Ex-boyfriend of Katharina.
– José - Katharina’s friend.

3. The Case:
– Star performer Katharina goes bizarre after being unceremoniously
dumped by Hugh.
– Writes disillusioned mails to her superiors containing issues like treatment
of women like prostitutes, obsolescence of language and even about
murder of a politician linked with a description of her fight with her
superior. (mostly in gibberish and full of stream-of-consciousness)
– Starts seeing ‘patterns’ in everything from her time of birth to the time she
arrives at work to death toll in middle east, all of which happen to be 4.22
(time of her birth).
– Has untimely mood swings. (laughed for a minute, went silent, showed
enthusiasm and the next minute broke into tears)
– Constant fights with superior.
– No living relative.

4. The dilemma faced by Pierce
and Company
– Should they cut Katharina loose on grounds of being insane?
– Who will take care of her given that she had no living relative?
– If the company takes responsibility of her and hospitalizes her then in
future it might have to hospitalize every employee who sends odd
mails.
– If they fire her the company might face a lawsuit in which if Katharina
proves her sanity then the company would have its image tarnished.

5. Expert
advice:

6. 1. Kay Redfield Jamsion
(Professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine)
– Categorizes Katharina’s as a common problem termed as Bipolar illness.
– Caused by high level of pressure and mostly kept hidden because of social
stigma attached to it.
– Is treatable and originations should educate senior managers about such illness
and its symptoms.
– If properly documented, might save the company from later courtroom
proceedings.
Opinion- Pierce and Co. should make Katharina understand her position and
reassure her that she will be welcomed after her treatment.

7. 2. David E. Meen
(Director of McKinsey & Co. until June 2003)
– Harry has a commitment towards Katharina as a concerned human being.
– When managers treat a distressed employee with respect and caring, they
create enormous reservoirs of goodwill in their organizations.
– Harry probably cannot commit time given his own responsibilities and therefore
this task should be accomplished by Katharina’s friend Karl.
– But Harry needs to be around as Karl is floundering like any manager would in
his situation.
Opinion- For now Katharina needs Pierce’s help and Pierce needs to be there for
her. Harry needs to talk to her, make her aware of her behaviour and if required,
decide her future role in the company.

8. 3. Norman Pearlstine
(Editor in chief of Time Incorporated in New York)
– Leaders bring their upbringing and personal experiences to the job.
– His family had history of maniac depressions. And was faced by similar case at
workplace. His personal experience made him help his colleague.
– A psychotic person needs professional help rather than managerial.
Opinion- Pierce should be cautious. It should rely on advice of professionals like
human resource people or attorneys in order to be on the safer side as instinct
doesn’t always help.

9. 4. Richard Primus
(Assistant law professor of the University of Michigan)
– Pierce- U.S based, Katharina- American citizen. So, Katharina’s employment
under U.S laws.
– This gives her two grounds for action against Pierce- sex discrimination (can be
tackled by proving organizational quality) and disability (here Pierce would have
to prove her disable).
Opinion- It is in Pierce’s interest to work with Katharina to identify a reasonable
accommodation. If she accepts it and still performs badly, Pierce can probably
dismiss her without consequences.

10. The Indian context
– A disorder associated with mood swings ranging from depressive
lows to manic highs.
– Very common (More than 10 million cases per year (India))
– Chronic: can last for years or be lifelong
– Requires a medical diagnosis
– Treatments can help reduce symptoms. Medications include valproic
acid, lithium, lamotrigine, quetiapine, among others. Other
treatments include cognitive behavior therapy or psychotherapy.
– But, like most other psychiatric illnesses, it is highly under-diagnosed
in India.

11. Age group affected:

12. Takeaway:
Manic depression or any other kind of psychological issue needs
professional care rather than a labelling of being insane.

13. Thank You