Be honest -you wouldn't employ a person with certain mental health issues, would you?

[sportmax]

That's ludicrous- if they're competent and fit for the job - of course I would. That's what I imagine most people would say.
But I don't think people are really being honest with themselves.

What if the person had a mental health issue like social anxiety, would you still want to hire them? Probably not.

I self diagnosed my social anxiety several years before I could conjure up the courage to seek help. When I say it's overwhelming- I mean there is so much I want to do/ change / work. It feels like a lot. But I am taking it slowly, being kind to myself.
Sadly i really do have to help myself as on the NHS you only get a dozen cbt sessions and they don't like it if you want come back a year later- well from my experience where I live anyway. The most progress I've made is on my own.

Mig58 I'm also currently housebound with agoraphobia linked to my OCD. I'd be very interested in knowing what you do as I would love to work again but so many employers are so resistant to people working completely at home.

"However if you come across at interview as needy or demanding because of your condition you shoot yourself in the foot." I'd be very interested to know what you would describe as "needy or demanding" comments or behaviour?

"I have had cbt on the NHS in the past" I've just had some very revealing phone conversations and doing some reading I happened upon some info that revealed to me that the cbt I have had on the Nhs - and which completely put me off cbt - was carried out completely incompetently! I'm trying to find some help and being pointed in the direction of good practitioners of cbt (though no idea how this will happen with the housebound issues and lack of funds) also other treatments inc emdr and eft as there are trauma issues too for me. I'm sick of existing, I want a life but it's so hard to access good treatment.

What is really frustrating is how those of us not working are vilified as "benefit scroungers" when the majority of us would LOVE to be working, both for our own sakes and to be contributing to society. I'd love to be earning and not shitting myself every time I get post, to feel useful and independent, and to show my daughter that I am not a burden.

I have as I've said good qualifications, experience, I'm a fast learner, anyone familiar with my posts on here will know I love writing and am interested in many subject areas. I'm conscientious and committed as an employee.

But I'm really struggling to find anything that means I can work at home that either doesn't require significant start up costs or specific equipment that I'm struggling to get clear advice on which is best, or requires at least occasionally going to another location which I cannot guarantee I'd be able to do.

With modern tech it really should be possible for certain roles to be fulfilled from my home but so many employers still don't really trust the tech, and/or don't trust employees to put the hours/work in.

Its also extremely shortsighted making cuts to healthcare when keeping people healthy means keeping them employable, but then I'm really not convinced the tories give a shit about this, they really don't seem to care even seem to think being healthy is an act of will and that people who are sick/disabled simply aren't making enough effort to be healthy - I think this is particularly true of mental illness.

Supporting people to stay/get healthy is not only in the best interest of the sick person, it's in the best interest of our economy and society as a whole.

Surely it's better to invest in helping us recover and be able to work and pay taxes? Rather than cuts leaving us abandoned and becoming more sick?

I suffered terribly from social anxiety in the past and I work two customer facing roles. I'm in a much better place than I was when I was diagnosed but deep down all the old anxieties are still there. I'm very good at hiding it now though and I think both my employers would be surprised if I told them how bad it was a couple of years ago.

I don't declare my bipolar when applying for jobs. My experience of the guaranteed interview scheme is that you always get an interview and never get the job.

I live with anxiety and have a fairly senior job. Its something I have come to terms with and manage and its severity varies. I'm still employable and good at my job (mostly 😂). Mental health is like physical health, it's a spectrum, we all have it and to some degree we all have our ailments diagnosed or otherwise! Some will make working impossible and some won't. Talking about it and breaking down stigma is all good though.

If you rock up to an interview and say "I have this condition and will need this amount of support to manage but I can perform effectively with this in place" It places you at a disadvantage.

However well qualified you are and however well you present yourself from that point the interviewer is wondering how the adjustments can be managed and whether its cost effective for the company
It is a fine line to tread between being honest about your health and appearing needy and demanding.

Thing is, people can learn some basic social requirements, just like they can learn other workplace skills. If your issue is nervousness in interviews, there are various tricks you can employ to overcome this. You can practice at least remembering to say 'Good morning' or 'Please' or 'Thank you'. If you're repeatedly being given feedback to the effect that you come across as rude, whiny or difficult, then you need to put some effort into fixing this rather than blaming employers for preferring someone who has the maturity and self-control to, basically, not be obnoxious.

@sportmax I know what you mean. I actually paid for 3 sessions with a counsellor and it really helped me to understand myself better. I got worse while it was processing as i had a lot if things in my life go against me at that time. I am over a year clear of medication now though and managing it really well.

In terms of self help i practice meditation and also paying attention to how i feel and how much i can tolerate before i give myself a break.

I really hope you feel better soon. I can see how much that would mean to you. If you ever want to chat please feel free to message me.

Thing is, people can learn some basic social requirements
Yes, people with social anxiety or other MH conditions can just “learn” to overcome them. People with autism and Aspergers can just “learn” how to make friends and be likeable. That’s like telling someone with depression to just “snap out of it”. It doesn’t work like that and it’s problematic and damaging to assume that it does.

Can and did. She was treated abysmally by her previous employers and her MH is fragile. After a very honest chat, I gave her the opportunity, a shit heap of praise and how much potential she had and blow me, she worked out brilliantly. Sometimes, you have to take a chance and let people prove themselves.

@ReanimatedSGB Yes, its the people with the disability that should stop being disabled Thats like telling someone in a wheelchair to just walk, make more effort!

You can tell who has never been affected by MH issues. You just don't get it. As I said in my first post on this - educate yourselves!

But I'm really struggling to find anything that means I can work at home that either doesn't require significant start up costs or specific equipment

There are lots of businesses and self employment options that people can do with minimal resources. If you have a computer and an internet connection you can do all kinds of things. For people struggling to find a job due to employer reluctance, then self employment is the obvious solution.

One of my clients was made redundant, his wife was a SAHM with few qualifications. They started up an e-commerce business with no prior experience and just a few hundred pounds. She was a keen "self taught" cook/baker which was basically her hobby. She was always frustrated at the poor choice of ingredients and baking aids in the supermarkets etc. Even before he was made redundant, she was thinking and researching about sourcing better stuff for her baking - she usually managed to find more unusual stuff like different shaped biscuit cutters, but it was hard to find, say, a train as the supermarkets only stocked stars and circles, etc. She thought that if she was frustrated, then others would be too, and she started buying the weird stuff and selling it on ebay. It really took off, so she reinvested the sales monies in more stock, and so, on, until she made her own website, - ultimately sold the business for a few hundred thousand and they've now retired.

Another client was pretty seriously disabled, i.e. wheelchair bound, poor hearing and speech etc. He set up a virtual office business as he could operate a computer, so he did things like book-keeping, admin, proof reading essays for students, drafting CVs etc - basically anything that could be done remotely by email. He then expanded into offering mail redirection services (a book-keeping client asked and he agreed to do it for one, then realised there was a market), so initially he used his own address, and then when it grew, he "bulk bought" mailing addresses from a national firm and resold them with a small margin so he didn't even need to handle the post himself.

All I would say is don't fall into the trap of the con-merchants (i.e. where they want you to pay them for the "opportunity" to address envelopes or whatever) and don't go for the cheap end of the franchise market.

I'm sure you have some skills that you could use to start your own business or go self employed.

Thing is, people can learn some basic social requirements

And employers and other staff can learn how to deal with people who aren't quite like they are, i.e. those with anxiety, aspergers, introverts, etc. A lot of the workplace problems are that the other staff simply regard the Aspie or the introvert as weird and make fun of him, i.e. workplace bullying, and that is simply not acceptable. It's the 21st century and needs stamping out.

Yes, its the people with the disability that should stop being disabled
Unfortunately that attitude is symptomatic of the general belief that if a problem is mental rather than physical you can just “snap out of it”. Nobody would dream of telling someone in a wheelchair to try harder to walk and it’s their fault if they can’t. But if you’re depressed, agoraphobic, have social anxiety, aspergers, bipolar, etc then your difficulties in getting out, getting a job and making friends are your own fault because you’re not trying hard enough.

I work customer service in a call centre and am not outgoing at all. I've previously had depression and generalised anxiety disorder and I have a bad case of "imposter syndrome" and worry a lot of the time that I've done things wrong. My manager loves me and my statistics are the best out of the team. He knows not to say "can I have a word?" But "you've made a small error, can we have a chat?" Makes me feel much better

Educate yourself really? If it is impossible to get a handle on a MH condition why bother with therapy and drugs to try to improve your situation. Lets all wallow in self pity and gripe at any one who dares to disagree. I'll be out of job and the NHS will save billions.

Part of the problem is that we have barely any social care left in England, so threads like this just demonstrate that we are now expecting employers to provide social care, often above and beyond what a normal friendly employer would be expected to provide.

I definitely think the world of work is geared to all the outgoing personality types. If you don't attend the annual Xmas dinner ppl think you're not a good team player.

depends on the role. Hiring someone with social anxiety / ASD for a programming or other ‘chained to your computer’ type of role often works out great from a productivity point of view. We do have a number of ASD graduates and apprentices who crunch numbers for risk analysis / quantification - they don’t need to interact with anyone (just email the results) and get a good amount of virtual and in-person supervision to ensure they stay on track / take breaks / leave on time etc. A few of the grads are now client side and a number of clients have expressed how impressed they are with them due to their ‘to the point’ nature - provided they stay in a technical roles and don’t go into generalist management roles with woolly job descriptions they will do really well — but these kids are effective communicators.

I wouldn’t hire someone with social anxiety and poor communication skills.

I definitely think the world of work is geared to all the outgoing personality types. If you don't attend the annual Xmas dinner ppl think you're not a good team player.

Fully agree and was the main reason I gave up work and started my own business, so I don't have to suffer the workplace extroverts who really just can't understand why you're not like them!

I'm talking about the people who are trying to help themselves i.e anyone with a diagnosed condition.

Its not about wallowing in self pity. The funniest thing about this is aruguing that people with MH issues should make more of an effort to develop their social skills at the same time as coming across as judgemental and cold with a superiority complex over people who might be trying their absolute best already. People in glass houses and all that.

I’ve just in the past hour lost an offer of employment. I had disclosed my mental illness just yesterday.
No reason given other than I was 5 mins (literally) late to training the previous day (which I had phoned immediately at told them, the training didn’t even start until 30 mins after my arrival.

Can’t see how it’s any reason other that’ll my disclosure.

I haven’t had an episode since I began medication, have good references.

Feel like utter fucking shit.

Typos

I worked hard in therapy and with meds to get my health conditions both mental and physical to a managable level so I could get back to work. It was difficult but I did learn coping strategies and stiil employ them on a daily basis.

@aj63 So would you not have preferred a level of understanding from those around you, family, friends or colleagues?