I remember some years ago when a woman I knew at work had to be hospitalized a few times for depression. Her husband was an alcoholic and, I heard, abusive. When people referred to her being gone, it would be with a judgmental tone. I probably was a bit judgmental myself. Then it was my turn. When I had to take a leave, I told my boss the truth because to not say anything would have almost left it more open for speculation; legally, you don't have to divulge anything medical like that, you only need to have a doctor's orders. Anyway, it was brought up during my next performance review - that I had missed quite a bit of time but managed to keep up with my work anyway. I asked him why he had to say that if I got my work done and I didn't get a satisfactory answer, so I went to HIS boss and asked to have that removed, which he did.
There was a second time when I had a severe depressive episode and, at first, my boss was sympathetic but quickly lost patience when I didn't "snap out of it" quickly enough for her. I got threatened with probation and she made life very difficult for me the next 10 years until I could finally collect my pension and get the hell out. It doesn't matter what the law says about discrimination - there are ways they can get around that, just like they can be discriminatory against people over 50 - believe me, they can find ways to call it something else.
I do know quite a few people who have gone through some form or other of mental illness and it doesn't bother me other than that I occasionally worry about them. It really isn't very safe to tell most people you work with if you have a mental illness, unfortunately, and I don't know what we can do about that. Most prejudice of any kind is the result of ignorance and fear, but you can't "make" people educate themselves. I think the more people who talk about it, the better. The company I worked for had tons of diversity training, and I don't believe any of it covered mental illness, but that would have been a great forum for it. I don't think it would bother me if I found out my psychiatrist or therapist had dealt with something like this - in fact, if they got successful treatment for it, or were working on it, I would probably feel like they'd have a better understanding of their clients. Both of them, in fact, have been in therapy, which I know because they told me, and I have the utmost respect for them because they've taken care of their own baggage and don't let it get in the way of working with their clients.
You're right -- I also had to undergo several "diversity training" sessions at work, all mandatory, and none about those of us with mental illness. I hadn't thought about it before, but this fact is in itself discriminatory. My boss knew I had major depression but I can't remember if I divulged the schizophrenia, too. He was kind enough to keep giving me a raise at every opportunity, because he guessed I would be going on disability retirement. And the higher my salary at retirement, the more I would receive each month. And I was doing my job to the best of my abilitities and trying extra hard not to let anything slide, even though I lost a total of 940 hours from hospitalizations and sick leave due to my illness. My co-workers even "chipped in" and gave me some of their sick leave and vacation time so I could get paid each month. Isn't that nice? My boss even hired an accountant part time after I had ECT treatments, because I forgot how to use a calculator!
I know I might press a few buttons by putting up this opinion but I do think some of the hesitancy around having a mentally ill person in the work place is founded. When I'm feeling really depressed I cannot concentrate in the way that I normally can, I get irrated very quickly and cannot handle it when things chop and change in a short space of time, my memory gets a lot worse, and I find it harder to follow instructions. Therefore I am less capable at the type of work I normally would excel at. It has nothing to do with my level of intelligence or how much I might desire to do everything that has been asked of me. It is just a harsh reality of my mental state.
This is not to say a mentally ill individual isn't to be hired, or trusted within a job, however their level of competency isn't always at their highest. So, yes, people who are mentally ill SHOULD be treated differently. Would it not be better if when you're at breaking point you get a rest? But at the same token you cannot expect that those who did not need that break are not going to be considered over you for that job. Like with anything else in life it is the best person to complete the task, and as awful as it is the reality is that mental illness does impact our ability to be that top person.
The law does take into account fairness for everyone, often dictating that company's need to employ at least one person with a disability. I guess mental illness could be considered within this view for some. It all depends on how much the individual is going to be able to stand up and be able to do what is required of them on a daily basis.
Like I said I have no desire to upset anyone - this is just my view based on my inability to work for some time and how my mental illness has affected me.
It wouldn't bother me if I found out my doctor or son's teacher had a mood disorder/depression/bipolar etc.,. I figure that the disorder or illness doesn't make them a bad person. They didn't let their illness stop them from achieving their goals. They have a job/career and I admire anyone who has that.,.I guess because I'm struggling so with trying to achieve that now and I'm getting nowhere. But, for anyone to have a disorder/depression and be working, be a doctor, teacher, cashier, whatever to me is amazing.
My feeling is that disclosing that you have a mood disorder on a new job would be ill advised. You have no way of gauging the reaction. Maybe after time and knowledge of the characters of those you are working with you could change your mind and decide on disclosure. But I stilll feel like everyone would just be waiting for the shoe to drop. Also I think it depends on the mood disorder. People are familiar with depression and the term Bipolar disorder and might be able to wrap their mind around the familiar terms. But I have met too many people whose philosophy is "call me anything but crazy". I personally do not discuss my mental illness issues with most people as I find that it just puts them off.
As I replied to Judy's comment above, I did initially have a receptive and rewarding experience with co-workers where I had worked for many years. But at subsequent jobs, I got nothing but grief when I disclosed.
If I were the boss and had a mentally ill employee? I had a meth addict as my secretary for several years. I was responsible for hiring her and for disciplinary action, up to and including her eventual dismissal. She had some totally unacceptable behaviors from time to time including wearing her sweats to work and being beyond irritable and appeared always to be dangerously anorexic. Her teeth were rotten and many missing. But I think I was more than generous. I did not take into account her appearance most of the time -- I was anorexic, too, although not as bad. I only eventually fired her because of continued unexcused absences, usually due to chronic bronchitis from using meth. But I did not offer the kindness of asking her to seek counseling and treatment for her addiction.
But if she had had schizophrenia or bipolar disorder? I imagine I would have read up on it to see what was going on in her head (although I know now that is impossible.) I would have tried to judge her on the basis of her job performance, just as I did with the meth addiction. I would have made allowances as long as she could complete her job duties. I'm not sure how I would have felt or acted, to be honest, if it had happened before my own breakdown. As with many other people, my ideas of schizophrenia and manic depression (as it was known at the time) came from Hollywood and were totally off base. Even when I found out that I myself had depression, I was surprised. I knew I was sick but I didn't know what it was called. And schizophrenia? That was really beyond belief. But I read the symptoms online and thought, "Yup, that's me!"
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I have a co-worker who I also consider a friend that has mental illness. She has just gotten out of the hospital and I can tell you with out a doubt I would not tell co workers of any problems that I may have. I am very disappointed to say that I work with a very large group of professionals and everyone seemed to weigh in on our co-workers illness on the negative side. She is very bright and very good at her job, however she has been passed over for jobs that she could have easily gotten had her co-workers and bosses not known about her illness.
A. Davis
Does your friend/co-worker know that she is being discriminated against because of her mental illness? Those who do discriminate against her for that reason are breaking the law, in particular, the Americans with Disabilities Act. She could file a complaint with the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunities Commission). More information is available at http://www.eeoc.gov/ .
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