1. < Depression & Anxiety

Working with an employer once diagnosed with depression

Posted by Laj4934 @Laj4934, May 17, 2017

I am going to speak to a group of employers in a month. I had only one employer when I was diagnosed with depression. I also went on Long term disability after a few years. I only have my one experience. Does any one have any experiences that they would want me to share? How did your employer deal with your diagnosis? What did they do to assist you? What could have been done to help you more? Anything you want to share!

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Depression & Anxiety Support Group.

Mentor
Jim, Volunteer Mentor | @jimhd | Feb 22, 2020
In reply to @georgette12 "Working in an environment where your job requires you to present in a specific way, like..." + (show)
@georgette12

Working in an environment where your job requires you to present in a specific way, like wearing a face mask, never works for me. As a writer in print publishing, I was able to be myself. Eccentric. Certain professions allow for that. Then I continued to work in hospice and psych facilities where personal experience was welcomed. But, yeah, I would not tell an employer anything personal.

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@georgette That's absolutely true. I was a volunteer visitor for hospice for around 5 years and found it to be very rewarding.

Jim

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Mentor
Ginger, Volunteer Mentor | @gingerw | Feb 22, 2020
In reply to @lisalucier "Apologies this discussion has somehow lagged for some time, but the topic is important and thus..." + (show)
@lisalucier

Apologies this discussion has somehow lagged for some time, but the topic is important and thus I'd like to invite others to be a part of it. @Laj4934 is asking about how to work with an employer once diagnosed with depression. This member especially would like input on:
- How did your employer deal with your diagnosis?
- What did they do to assist you?
- What could have been done to help you more?

I don't recall ever talking to my boss or anyone in my management about my diagnosis of depression. At one juncture, however, prior to a diagnosis when some factors in my job had me really far down many years ago, I did contact employee assistance in HR, who was helpful in listening to me and then pointing me to counseling.

@jimhd @notaround @darlingtondoll @mamacita @newzbug @helenfrances @ksad @johnhans @shermananski @secretwhitepop - wondering if you might have some thoughts on these questions about work and depression?

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@lisalucier I never said anything to my superiors about my depression. As a person on the autism spectrum, I chalked up a lot of my issues to that diagnosis, but after a while realized that there was depression there. I sought out assistance via talk therapy, and a mild SSRI. Depression comes in cycles for me, some deeper than others. In my last career, just the virtue of my job was depressing enough, not adding in the outside influences to trigger. It became easier to "mask" my situation, and continue the counseling. Unfortunately, there never was a superior whom I felt comfortable to share my diagnosis with, as the toxic environment would have become more so.
Ginger

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russy | @russy | Mar 1, 2020

My manager piled so much extra work on me. There was no possible way of doing it all. He also had me help two other employees reporting to him. My extreme depression got so much worse that I had to go on disability.

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Moderator
Lisa Lucier, Moderator | @lisalucier | Mar 2, 2020
In reply to @russy "My manager piled so much extra work on me. There was no possible way of doing..." + (show)
@russy

My manager piled so much extra work on me. There was no possible way of doing it all. He also had me help two other employees reporting to him. My extreme depression got so much worse that I had to go on disability.

Jump to this post

Hi, @russy - did you get the opportunity to talk to your boss about your depression while you were working there? Does he know why you left to go on disability?

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russy | @russy | Mar 2, 2020

I spoke with him various times and about my frustrations. I to!d him I felt he was setting me up for failure. He would say that was nonsense. He said he wasn't being insensitive to my issues. All along making things more difficult.

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