Joining the 'Mainstream'

@Grace93 Hi Grace93 and welcome to the forums. firstly congratulations on your studies that is a huge achievement particularly with a mi. Now would I tell future employers about my mi absolutely not. It is like if you have had a broken leg in the past or if you have high blood pressure you would not mention those ailments to your future employer so why mention anything about your mi which you have been in recovery for several years.

It is not lying it is simply not in your interest to tell them as it will unfortunately affect your likely hood of gaining a job in your dream profession. The wider community just does not understand mental illness unless maybe it is depression all other illnesses are treated as dangerous by and large I have found anyway (I have schizoaffective disorder).

Good luck with your job search and let us know how it goes. greenpea

pe: if you want to talk to anyone imparticular just put a @ in front of their name like I did for you and they will be notified of your post.

Theres too much stigma & fear of the unknown around the many variables of Mental Illness in the workplace - I would NOT bring it up until after you've been in a job for 6months. Its none of their business anyway unless it affects your work, and if thats likely - you could be viewed as a potential liability. And in that case they're bound to choose another applicant. Its wrong but its the way of the world.

hi @Grace93 welcome to the forums.

i've been out of work for 7 years due to MI. Now I'm stable on good meds & looking for work. It is disheartening to be interviewed & then not offered the job but I try to job search every day.

Try volunteering, preferably in the field you're trying to get employed in. Then you have expereince to put on your CV and Referees. I've been volunteering for 12 months & now have a good reputation there & referees. I'm also changing my duties a little to make them more relevant to my career and CV so that's valuable.

Definitely don't tell empoyers about MI. I only talk about my MI with my psychiatrist and a few select family members.

Often times I feel like my family don't even understand me, only my psychiatrist does.

hope you find the forums helpful, it's a very friendly & nice palce I find.

What kind of job are you hoping for? I'm only looking for part-time work as I have fatigue/sleep problems and definitely dont' have the capacity for full time work.

Hi @BryanaCamp,

I have just signed up to a volunteer site awaiting for possible placements.

I find it upsetting that so many people advise not to tell employers about MI. While I understand the stigma surrounding it and the potential for employers to discriminate (even though its illegal) I still believe that it's important to be truthful. With my own MI, it will be made apparent to the employer on day one of my future job that I have some difficulties, so I would rather be up front so the employer knows that I have some issues. If they chose to discriminate, then fine, I would have dodged a bullet in my opinion. If an employer can't accept that there are people who have different abilities then they're not somebody I want to dedicate 1/3 of my life too.

I do see a psychiatrist about my MI and I find her extremely understanding and helpful. I definitely relate to you when you say your family don't understand you, my family are the same, especially my father. Which is why I think it is so important for employers to be supportive, like a second family.

I'm hoping to find work in graphic or interior design (as thats what I have a degree in) and if not, I think I will return to uni to study social work. Part time work would suit me, as I like to take time to do art and look after my garden to relax and stay relatively functional.

that's great @Grace93 you sound really motivated and organised. Hope you can find some interesting volunteering to do. It's wonderful that you've reached such a positive place, I'm sure you've worked hard for that.

I'm in my mid 40's and keeping my MI provate is just what's right for me. I don't know how I'd feel about disclosing my MI if I was your age. You sound very determined & like you have a clear idea of what you want out of an employer. How do you think your previous employer would have handled it if you'd disclosed MI?

Thanks @BryanaCamp ,

I am really proud of what I've achieved so far (even though it may not be as much as other people my age, but who the hell cares).

Towards the end of my employment at my last job, it was clear to my employers that I was having difficulty with something. They didn't care and my store manager didn't even know my name, even after I had worked there for a year. I had a few severe panic attacks while at work and my supervisor/managers used to roll their eyes at me. Nobody there even attempted to get to know me or even asked if I was ok, except for one lady. So I quit, and I don't regret it.

you've achieved a lot @Grace93 and whilst managing a mental illness too, we all know how hard that can be. Well done.

Sorry you had negative experiences at your last workplace, I imagine that could be hard to move on from. But good riddance to bad rubbish. I believe there are good people out there in the workplace, it can just take some looking. The staff where I volunteer are lovely and compassionate beings, they are really good with the participants (who suffer from quite extreme & debilitating mental health issues & intellectual disabilities) and are always so nice to me. I find them really inspiring & uplifting. They are kind of role models to me as they are always positive & have a can-do attitude and lots of energy. I haven't disclosed my MI to them as that's just what I feel is best for me personally.

Maybe it will just take you some trial and error in the workplace to see what suits you, we can tell you about our experiences here but I'm sure you want to have experiences of your own. You're very young which is fantastic! There's a lot ahead of you. I'm sure your design skills are terrific. I went to an Escher exhibition recently which was amazing, it was coupled with a Japanese artist's response to Escher which was quite architectural - stuff you could walk through rather than looking at small pictures. Do you have any interior designers you admire?

One thing I've learned from being a workaholic (in the past, especially when I was your age) is that it is essential to balance out work life with hobbies and a social life. It's good to have as broad a support network as possible. I love bush walking and actually do that solo mostly but it gives me something to talk about and to do in my spare time. ANd I've worked really hard on my social support for the past 2 years. I'd become so isolated that I had to build up friendships & family from literally nothing. Now I have different groups of friends to enjoy, some of whom are really supportive & understanding and I go out socially 2 or 3 times a week. That helps me to feel supported and to enjoy my quality of life. I wouldn't want to rely on the workplace as my only social support.

hope that makes some sense & is helpful

Hi @Grace93 & welcome, I'm pretty much for the upfront approach even though might be a set back - on the other hand it may be appreciated that you have the courage to disclose, the self esteem to know your worth + passion & as much may be done on computer or from home, you could offer this as a back up were you to need time away from workplace.

Congrats for your path to date, success upon your path each day

👏 👍🌈🌠

I wouldn’t disclose. I don’t and I wouldn’t. I also don’t disclose many other things that are irrelevant to my ability to do my job.