The Working Life: Success on the Job

For 19 years, I've been employed at various jobs, and living with SZ, I've come know what I need to do to be successful on the job. Some of what I've learned is specific to my personality, and thus my focus in this blog entry will be on skills that everyone can adopt. Three things are integral for those of us with the diagnosis.

First, I'll reiterate that I'm not a fan of disclosure. For two weeks after my advocacy bio was printed in the employee newsletter [when I won the NAMI-Staten Island volunteer of the year award], I had a heightened worry about what my immediate co-workers thought of me. It occupied a lot of my time.

Second, in researching the factors that enable people with SZ to remain employed, I read that vocational rehabilitation clients who were interviewed rated medication compliance as the number-one predictor of being able to function on a job for the long-term. With symptoms under control, it will be that much easier to meet the demands placed on us in the workplace.

Third, support networks such as family, friends, and a peer support group are valuable outlets for coping with stress. I meet with a group of women once a month to talk about what's going on in our lives: we dish about guys as much as about our diagnoses and our jobs, and encourage each other to take risks.

Now I'll turn my attention to things that people with SZ need to know in general that have nothing to do with the illness:

1. Stick with your first job as long as you can to gain valuable skills and experiences.

When I was younger, I quit a job because I didn't like the guy I worked for. It's OK to leave if the person is a jerk whose cruel behavior impacts your mental health. Yet you can't change jobs every time you don't get along with someone. There's a difference between a quirk and a character flaw. Certain people would push your buttons even if you didn't have schizophrenia. One caveat: If all your coping techniques for dealing with the office bully fail, you may have to walk away.

2. Refrain from using your boss as a therapist for perceived workplace injustices.

On my second job, I wrote in my response to a performance review that I felt "belittled" because of the firm's rules. A year later after my supervisor left, her replacement brought up what I said, and he had it in black-and-white. Save your frustrations for you real therapist, who can actively listen to you vent your frustrations. You're not always going to like policies, and short of unethical conduct, you'll often have to take them as they are.

3. If you're invited, go out after work with your co-workers.

You don't have to drink or have a beer, by the way. You can talk about safe topics-the latest movie that's gotten star reviews, your children or niece or nephew, anything light and breezy. Steer clear of commenting about other co-workers. If someone else does this, keep silent. You may secretly agree that the guy in accounting has bad taste in leisure suits, yet even with something as innocent as that, simply smile and don't get involved. A boss once praised me for refraining from left-handed comments and not getting catty.