Two things that might help. Andrew Johnson's Positivity hypnosis tape (Just google it) may help. I like it. The best way to counter depression is to take positive action--action that you are in control of. Why not create your own job. I did using step by step instructions at http://www.docspress.com.
Best of luck to anyone suffering from depression from being laid-off. I have been there and it is no fun. Life gets better though if you keep on trying. Hang in there.
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Hi Deborah!
I think you could write a book with all this great advice. The one point I really keyed in on is...that you advise that you should not disclose about your depression before you land the job. What about after? I am always wondering about the folk talking about the drug testing...and they are taking antidepressants or anti-anxiety meds. What advice do you offer for that sort of situation?
And what about the individual whose mood disorder really does present limitations for what they can do on a job?
This may be the one situation...as a writer who writes about depression...where discussing one's mood disorder is actually a plus. I do wonder...for which jobs is it okay to disclose and which jobs...it would not be a good idea.
Thank you for writing this...you always give me lots of food for thought.
I wouldn't bother to worry about drug testing. Almost always, an independent company is doing the testing, and they will not be looking for antidepressants or anxiolytics. They will be looking for illicit drugs and things like pain killers for which you have no prescription. I have been drug tested a number of times at various places of employment. I have even volunteered a list of the medications I am on, and they never once wanted it. And I always passed with flying colors.
One man where I worked, an asst mgr, had a backache and used one of his wife's prescription pain killers. He happened to be randomly tested that day and ended up getting fired because the prescription was not for him, it was for his wife. So you do have to be careful about these things.
I would also like to say that I think trying to find the right job (or any job, for that matter) when you are seriously depressed is one of the hardest tasks there is. You don't even feel like getting out of bed and your interview is 9am. Ask for an interview in the afternoon when you are feeling better. Trying for a job that requires a lot of concentration and focus when you are in a black fog? It is almost doomed from the start. I never had trouble GETTING a job, because I had an outstanding resume. But I had trouble KEEPING these jobs because I tended to choose jobs like those I had had in the past, requiring skill in multi-tasking, wearing a constant veneer of cheerful competence, pulling info from many sources into one report, chairing in-office committees, running interference for my boss, writing company-wide newsletters, and on and on.
It was very difficult to gauge my competency at such tasks when groggy from medication, suffering from insomnia, worrying about my boss approving weekly visits to a therapist and frequent visits to my psychiatrist (I admit I lied about where I was going,) and trying to keep my attention on what I was doing.
Although Deborah asserts that it is important to reach for what you really want, make sure you will be able to handle it. If you have major depression and it is not responding well to treatment, I would advise from experience, that it might be a good idea to move laterally instead of upwardly, or even take a step down till you are feeling better. The pressure of a difficult work assignment is made even more difficult by depression and/or other mental illness.
Just a few thoughts...
Donna
I agree with Donna. I don't think there's anything to worry about as far as drug tests. I've never had a problem.
I think the decision of whether to reveal your depression afterward is really individual. It depends on your supervisor and workplace. I think you shouldn't spring it on your boss on your first day. It's better to show that you can do the job first. I
Thats not real depression. If you have real depression you cannot work at all
Im 30 years old and never held a job before. Every job i tried, i had to lie down on the floor of the job because the torture was so intense. In real depression, you have malaise, dysphoria and Akathisia so intense, that you cannot function at all to work any job.
If you can work a job then you are extremely well, not depressed. I beg constantly for my torture to end, even the smallest task feels like agony, i dont understand how other people feel inside that they can work jobs and i never met anyone like me nor see anyone remotely like me posts. Its only all people who say they have depression but then feel well enough to work and do things. i have to lie down and shake all of the time, i moan and cry, everything feels like torture, and its been this way my whole life. in school i got Fs because depression disallows school work as well. Everyones fake.
Depression is different for every sufferer and every time! Don't judge other people when you don't walk in their shoes and have no idea how they are feeling or how hard they are working to put on the ' I am ok really'. I have periods where I could work and found ways to tackle work issues but other times I just couldn't. Was I not depressed then depressed? No still depressed just varying degrees of depressed! I certainly don't won't to be judged by the fellow sufferers as well as non sufferers. Shouldn't you be supporting fellow sufferers not judging us thanks!! Life is difficult enough ta!