I think disclosing your illness (s) to other people is wrong.
The reason I have always avoided doing it is because I don’t think people will care, and it’s embarrassing to be honest to have that conversation
In a professional context, I don’t think employers would stick to the laws on hiring people with disabilities, as subconsciously they will have a choice of candidates, and a lot of them don’t have this kinda baggage
Now I have been diagnosed with Autism as well as Schizophrenia, I find the autism disclosure something that is accepted.
This frustrates me as for years I have suffered in silence with my mental health condition. I see how people deal with autism once they know should be the same for Schizophrenia in a few years.
I only talk about my mental illness to close friends and family. I would never tell an employer because I agree with you no one abides by those acts. If it comes down to hiring you and an equally qualified candidate w/o mental illness, even if you tell them you’ve been stable for years, i can guarantee they will pick the other person over you every time.
I agree with you. Overall, i have not disclosed the truth about my illness to anyone. People remain judgemental even today. Knowing clouds their judgement of you and everything you do. I think potential employers would definitely avoid hiring you if they knew the truth. Yes, very careful consideration should be made before disclosing that you have schizophrenia.
Autism is regarded as cool for some reason while schizophrenia has a whiff of axe murderer about it. That’s how people react, anyhow. I don’t hose around the SZ diagnosis, but I do let selective people (like my employers) know.
I said to the assessor in the follow up meeting that exact issue, and I said it has made me very tetchy about disclosure to other people of anything to do with my brains malfunctions.
What I can’t understand is why us Sz suffers don’t have a platform to drive for change.
Can you imagine how much suffering would be averted if they could find a way to make early intervention the norm to save brain damage from Psychosis?
There are lots of positive examples of people with autism and Aspies in movies and on TV. Think Rain Man or Big Bang Theory. Those of us with SZ get Netflix series on the Unabomber. Yay.
In the UK I read that Autism got attention as there were some big Autistic Organisations making a drive for change on a private parliament bill proposed by an MP to improve services.
That was in 2009 and they called it the Autism Act
I think maybe we need to get political to drive any true change in how our illness is dealt with by other people.
We may get a Schizophrenia act one day and other people will understand it better
Well, I really doubt he had schizophrenia and it was a political diagnosis anyways. He was definitely in MK-Ultra at Harvard and those documents were never shown in court IIRC. I wouldn’t be surprised if the government knew or kept tabs on him. Same thing with that crazy guy Charles Manson.
I see nothing wrong with letting your employer know you have a “disability”, without actually disclosing “schizophrenia”. That’s what I did anyway. I told them I have a disability and can’t work nights, which is true, and they still hired me. If my manager wants to know the specific disability, I will tell him.
I’ve been lucky and only had one person react weirdly. Almost everyone says they couldn’t tell anything was off about me. Of course I don’t go out or socialize when having symptoms.
My boss knew before she hired me that I was sza. In fact, she hired me because we were talking and I told her no one would hire me because of my disabilities. She tells me all the time she’s thankful our kids met and introduced us because she thinks I am a good friend and employee. It makes me feel good.
Not everyone will react badly. It’s really up to youto gauge who and when to tell. Hell, I told my boss/friend about my sza the first time so she knew the big reason I didn’t allow sleepovers. I just never know if the symptoms might come out and I don’t want to scare a kid
good points. I think people may even see it as a defense mechanism like physical immunity or some sort of evolutionary process…disclosure can be beneficial or harmful-cases should be individualized.
I will be forced to disclose my physical disability due to my body changing all the time. I can imagine that I might be needing a cane or a wheelchair so an employer is going to see that.
Years ago when going to my mum’s by taxi I was asked what job I had. Without thinking I said I had mental health problems, and wasn’t working. The taxi driver’s response- his daughter had been admitted to psych hospital a few days before .
i tell most people that i have sz…i think its sometjhing interesting to say about myslef…but then by the same token i wouldnt disclose it to an employer unless the job was being offered on mental health grounds
I don’t go into specifics about my diagnosis with people unless it’s required (like with a medical professional). I usually just say I have mental illness if I must.
My dentist asked me what my meds were for during my last appointment, then I told him, and his tone shifted a bit. Even that kind of upset me a little.
If you can go through life without showing outward signs of schizophrenia, then I think it’s a good idea not to disclose.
I haven’t told many people. I told my parents because they were concerned for me. I told my employer (after some time) because of the sick days I took.
I don’t have a problem telling people of my condition, but there needs to be a reason.