I’m in my third of four semesters of nursing school, and we have Mental Health Concepts this semester. We went over schizophrenia and related disorders last week (I have schizoaffective-depressive type myself). One of my classmates asked if people in a catatonic state know and remember what’s going on around them. Our professor wasn’t sure, and it was all I could do to keep myself from speaking from experience. My state asks on the application for a nursing license if we’ve been diagnosed with any psychiatric disorders within the past five years. I was diagnosed almost nine years ago, so I won’t have to list it. There’s a part of me that really hates hiding this aspect of myself though. My cohort has 18 people, and we’re all very close. I certainly don’t plan to open up on this topic though.
I’m probably more interested in my Mental Health Concepts class than any other class in nursing school so far. I definitely can’t go into pysch though. It’s too close to me, and I’d be too tempted to tell my patients my own story. I think I’d like to go into OR instead.
Gosh, I completely excluded the reason I posted this topic in the first place. I’m trying to decide if I should disclose to my professor or not. We have to write a bunch of reflections in this class, and it’s hard to keep my own mental health (or rather, lack thereof) out of it. We have to reflect on a book about schizophrenia and one about bipolar disorder with psychotic features. Can’t decide if I should hide it or not. For what it’s worth, I do trust this professor (she taught pharmacology in first semester). I’d appreciate opinions and feedback.
It’s your comfort level that has to be considered. Will disclosing that info improve your relationship with her? She will definitely think differently of you. Is she good-tempered and understanding? That would make disclosing the info easier.
She might end up considering you the “go-to schizophrenia expert” though, and you might get a reputation around that.
Personally I wouldn’t tell anyone if I could help it.
I literally just outed myself as schizoaffective to everyone in class we were talking about it and I kind of just blurted it out. My silly brain didnt keep up with my mouth.
Not sure how much more u have to go for the semester. I think eventually u should let him/her know. Sometimes they can be understanding, This is the “Medical” field isn’t it? Don’t have to say right away but I think it could more good to let them know eventually. Btw, u mind askin what state u getting your license? Im curious to know if a lot of states do this in general. I guess they ask for long-term, see if your stable? that’s why there may be a period.
@Crazycatlady, The nursing field may be a medical field but they are NOT more understanding when it comes to psychiatric disorders among themselves. I was deprived of my nursing license when my sza disorder was revealed to the state board of nursing in Arizona back in 1993. And I never did get my license back even to this day. I wouldn’t let them know anything.
Just because it’s a medical field doesn’t mean they’ll be understanding of pysch disorders. I’m in Montana, but I believe most states ask about psychiatric disorders. I know that if I had to declare it, that wouldn’t necessarily be a denial, but I’d need to provide doctors’ notes showing that I’m stable. I first thought of nursing school about seven years ago but for many reasons, I didn’t peruse it until much more recently. Sometimes I think about the time wasted, but there is an advantage to being further away from my date of diagnosis, after all.
I strongly suspected that was the case and have been very private up until now. I figure it would be worse it I tried to hide it, but I am outside the five year window that my state lists. I supposed I’d better get used to checking other states’ requirements before considering any moves (I’m currently in Montana, but I want to move to large city which are nonexistent here).
I’m sorry and angry to hear that you lost your license. Thank you for the reality-check.
You could always say that “someone very close to you” has it, and share the experience from a third person perspective as though it’s someone you know, sharing a story referencing “her” and “she”. That way you could still add valuable information that would be helpful for them to know without having to call yourself out? Just an idea!
That is an idea. I posted in another group, and someone suggested that. I’m afraid that if I really get talking though, it’ll be obvious I’m discussing myself and not a friend. On the other hand, is anyone going to contact the Board of Nursing over that?
I stopped telling people like friends about my diagnosis. If they aren’t understanding I highly doubt a teacher or boss will be and I’ve known a lot of these friends since middle school 16-17 years ago.
On a more important note I hope you do get your nursing degree. My partner wants to go to nursing school but focus on mental health or the elderly
I guess that sorta makes sense, but I would think that they would “try” to understand? Nobody will fully understand our conditions. Even us, we are in differ categories. We all cant really relate, but we try to understand each other more I think. To me I feel that if I don’t tell them, and if I offend or do something “Wrong” then it will prolly make things worse or seem worse. Of course I always agree its not the first thing you say…but I think it can be important for long term?
