Disability question

[thinkfast]

Can a medical condition amount to a disability under the Equality Act if it can be controlled with medication?

I'm thinking, for example, of mental health conditions that in the absence of medication would have a substantial and long term impact on a person's day to day life, but that can be adequately controlled with medication.

In those circumstances, does the person qualify as disabled and get the benefit of the employment law protections that go along with that?

Yes. The Equality Act says you have a disability if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial, adverse, and long-term effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities, which has lasted at least 12 months, or is likely to last 12 months. It doesn’t matter whether you’re taking medication to control your condition.

Thanks for your answer. Is that tue case, even if the medication means the impairment is gone (while you are taking the medication)?

Yes. Just as Type 1 diabetics are still considered to have a long term impairment despite taking insulin which enables them to manage their condition, somebody with e.g. schizophrenia would equally be considered to have a long term impairment despite taking medication enabling them to manage their condition.

Yes, absolutely, you're still affected by it which is why you take the medication.

If the medication hasn't cured the condition so it's no longer a condition you have, you still have the condition even if the symptoms are controlled.

Thank you!