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Posted

Hi all,

I'm tentatively starting out on the job market (to go full fledged in the fall, when I complete) and it seems with every application I'm asked to indicate whether I belong to several specific groups (usually whether I'm female, aboriginal, visible minority or whether I consider myself disabled). In some cases there are guaranteed interviews for those meeting minimum criteria who are have disabilities. The disability category seems to be open and self-defined.

The deal is I have a mental illness. I'm generally not particularly inclined to disclose this when looking for a job. I may, however, once I get a job occasionally need some accommodation and/or access to services. There's nothing obvious on my grad school or employment record, other than I would have been faster and likely gotten more done had I not gotten sick.

If I click 'no' now am I held to that? Is there any disadvantage to leaving it blank or choosing the 'prefer not to indicate' box where there is one? At what point and how does one disclose (or do you not)? Is it foolish not to indicate belonging to this category at the outset? (particularly when my disability is not obvious and I don't particularly want to discuss it)?

  • 4 weeks later...
Posted

By admitting early on in the application process that you have a mental illness, you are unfortunately opening yourself up to discrimination. Unless your illness specifically affects your ability to do the job most of the time, I don't think that you are obligated to share this information. I think it is more common for people with physical disabilities to be up front because 1. Often this is obvious to the employer, anyway and 2. There's not as much stigma as there is with mental illness. You want your potential employer to judge you based on your education, training, talent, and personality, not your illness. If you do get hired and you plan on keeping the job long-term, I would wait until after your trial work period is over (usually 90 days) and disclose your illness at that time. That way, your employer already knows that you are capable of doing your job and that they want you to stick around. This will then allow you to ask for whatever accomodations you need without putting your job at jeopardy, since they legally cannot fire you just for having a mental illness.

You are correct in that you do need to disclose this information at some point down the line. You should work with your boss/supervisors to come to a mutual understanding of what will help you succeed in this position and what will happen if you have a crisis and need to take time off to deal with it. I've had a couple of different experiences in the past working with co-workers who had bipolar disorder. The first was actually my supervisor, who one day had an angry outburst with some of our co-workers and then walked off the job, probably assuming she was going to be fired. Somehow it came out that she had bipolar disorder and was going through a hard time with her illness. The boss set up a meeting with her and she was able to get everything on the table and keep her job. She might have avoided this whole ordeal if she had disclosed her illness earlier on (she had been working there many months at this point) and formulated some kind of game plan. The second instance was a co-worker who called in to work on many days (because she felt too unstable to come in) and used so much sick time that she ran out and was forced to explain everything to our boss and take FMLA. She would have gotten fired if she hadn't explained that she was sick due to her bipolar disorder. The thing about her is that we actually work with clients who are severally mentally ill, and all of us would have been very understanding and empathetic (including our boss!) if she had been more open about it! Most had been under the assumption that was just lazy or had a bad work ethic.

Anyways, I digress. As you embark on your job search, remember that you are more than your mental illness and that you have many skills and talents to offer employers. Go in with the attitude that you are worthy of a good job, in spite of your difficulties, and things should turn out well for you. Good luck!

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