I was interested in becoming a counselor, so I went to the orientation at San Francisco State, and they said that applicants needed to show lots of academic awards and volunteer experience in the field already. It's a full time job for me to just get through school while working more than twenty hours a week, so I have never had the chance to get the volunteer work in. When I talked to the admissions director about their policy with accepting applicants with mental disabilities, he commented along the lines of, "We don't want to have a situation akin to teaching a blind person how to fly an airplane." This comment coming from someone who is training people to help those with mental illness!!
And as far as just going into the workplace... well, with the economy the way it is, I can't imagine it would be easy to get anything even if I DIDN'T have the illness. Google and a group of representatives from other companies recently had a presentation and dinner that I went to where they were talking about wanting to hire more people with disabilities; when I applied, they didn't even have the decency to give me a proper rejection. Companies that say they support the hiring of those with disability are mostly paying lip service, I've discovered (Goldman Sachs and Merrill-Lynch sat there and told this group of disabled people that they would be expected to work 18 hours a day if they joined their company!). When I have applied to jobs in the past, I have tried not addressing my past, lying and covering up my past by saying a family member was dying, and disclosing my illness to explain my past, and each time I was met with rejection (despite being very well-qualified compared to others already at the companies).
So my question is: how might I go about getting a decent job or getting into a grad program with my past being riddled with holes due to the Bipolar? I've tried numerous ways, and I have met with nothing but rejection. Employers always want detailed explanations for past issues. I must get a good job when I leave school; I have 75k worth of student loans to pay off because Stanford doesn't give a break for those needing to take more quarters due to disability. I am at my wits end and cannot see a future where I'm successful because of this damned disease having destroyed my past. Any comments or suggestions would be very helpful. I'm sorry if I talked too much.
Every part of your story is saddening; but familiar to my own. A wish I had a better answer for you. I became officially disabled in 2005; was diagnosed that year and went downhill from there (for many of the same reasons you have indicated where your own illness has ruined your life). I am just now able to return to work but no one will hire anybody who is bipolar. I would have better luck having to explain 3 years in Prison rather than three years of disability/unemployment from Bipolar. If you disclose up front - interview is quickly wrapped up. If you don't disclose - they find out in the background checks that Include your medical records. You just hear "were sorry that position has already been filled. I have researched my "rights" with the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 = which prohibits discrimination in hiring , firing, etc. for mental illnesses) and the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission - who is charged under federal law to enforce the ADA) without any good news. The laws are there, but in the real world they provide you no protection at all. You will be discriminated against for your disease and there is no way to prove it. I like you need a well paying job - I worked as a management consultant for IBM for 12 years and made well north of 100K for most of those years. Now - I don't think I could "manage" the french fryer at McDonald's for minimum wage. So if anybody out there can provide helpful info to me or Wilford_Brimley; I would be eternally grateful.