Furious Seasons

November 13, 2007

Depression And The Workplace

John at Storied Mind has an excellent, gut-wrenching post on his war with depression and what it's done to his career:

"One of the hardest admissions I have had to make about the effect of depression was to say bluntly to myself, after years of denial, that my performance in my profession had steadily deteriorated under the impact of this illness. The truth had been obvious for some time to colleagues depending on me to be a consistently outstanding performer, but it only came home when facts kicked me in the teeth. The experience was a bit like what alcoholics describe as hitting rock bottom."

His post is remarkable for its candor and I wish the man much luck. I am a bit jealous, as bizarre as it might sound, that apparently his employer was willing to deal with his depression within the confines of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and gave him various job accommodations. He didn't like how that felt, and I can understand that. But try telling your employer you're diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and out the window goes the ADA and accommodations, regardless of the law.

I got chased out of job on that basis twice in the 1990s, and as most readers remember there is the famous case of the bipolar cop here in Seattle (who eventually won a settlement from her former employer) and as well as a Seattle Stabucks barista, whom the EEOC got an $85,000 award for. Well, maybe times have changed from the 1990s.

Maybe depression is easier for human resource departments to wrap their minds around, since there are no harum-scarum figures like Fuller Torrey telling lies about how people with depression act. Either way, with 30 million or so Americans with depression--and, yes, I do believe the number to be that high--maybe American employers have had to grapple with social reality.

(Storied Mind post via Beyond Blue.)

Posted by Philip Dawdy at November 13, 2007 12:05 AM

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Comments

Mania = maniac and the stigma is exploited by hate mongers like Torrey. Being labled with Bipolar Disorder is societies ultimate way of say "you're not human." And then it's internalized by folks like John McNAMI with his "it's not us, but our relatives that suffer," self hatred. I beat my child/spouse/parent because they were bipolar and I had to, self defense don't ya know, is an acceptable legal and social explanation these days. Horrific really.

Posted by: Sally at November 13, 2007 12:43 AM

I agree that people with a dx of bipolar or schizophrenia face discrimination that those tagged with major depression don't face. For example, if I wanted to become a doctor (not a chance in hell, by the way) in my state come licensing time I wouldn't have to report that I have been diagnosed with recurrent major depression. If I had a dx of bipolar or schizophrenia I would be required by law to report it. So, in my state a person with bipolar disorder who has never been to a psych hospital would have harder time being licensed than myself who has been to the nuthouse on multiple occasions. That doesn't seem fair.

On the other hand, by making depression such an acceptable form of mental illness it does tend to minimize how bad it can really be. As others have pointed out, there's depression and then there's depression.

~lisa

Posted by: Lisa at November 13, 2007 03:05 AM

When I lived in CA I had three social service jobs for which there were times when I had to take long breaks. CA has "state disability" as a stop gap before needing to go on SSDI. I would use the family leave act and take 3 months off at a time and get state disability about once every year and a half, so inevitably each employer I had eventually knew of my condition. For only one of the three employers did that become a problem. They made my life miserable even when I was doing well and I was forced out by intolerable working conditions because I was treated so badly. (I quit---they avoided firing me by making it bad)

My two other employers, both mental health social services were incredibly supportive and wished me well while I was out and welcomed me back with open arms. So I have encountered both horrible discrimination and complete support. I have to say at the first job the first time I went out on disability leave they were very supportive but the management had all changed by the second time I went out.

For the most part I think I've been very lucky. Even my last employer before I went out on disability here in NC, for whom I only worked four months waited for me and wished me well and wanted me to come back. Unfortunately they were an awful bureaucracy and weren't willing to offer accommodations. But my immediate supervisors were kind and wanted to help out. Ultimately I wouldn't have been able to work even with accommodations this time around as I've found out. The drugs just finally kicked my ass. So it all worked out for the best.

Posted by: Gianna at November 13, 2007 08:49 AM

Storied Mind blog is a new one I've been enjoying reading. I believe it's which employer, a person deals with re: ADA. Schools [for example]have to pay attention to laws, it applies to kids as well, so employees benefit from flexibility.[adherence to the law] But the case of the bp cop still fries me, as well as any other discrimination. I agree, that depression and even anxiety are "accepted" terms in this society, people in general can "relate" to those words, and only hear bipolar or schizophrenic for example, in awful news media-hype stories.
I for one, have disclosed nothing regarding my mental wellness.

Posted by: Stephany at November 13, 2007 08:53 AM

I for one, have disclosed nothing regarding my mental wellness.

Yay! Love the term mental wellness used in that fashion! I choose not to disclose my mental wellness! Ha!

Posted by: Gianna at November 13, 2007 10:17 AM