I need anti depressants to work.

Falcon19

Did a work contract but i had severe anxiety issues at the time or depression. Unsure if i was tired due to a computer course i did before hand or the type of work i was doing, work environment etc. Got lexapro which helped marginally but it wasn't until i took sertraline that my confidence returned although by then the company decided not to renew the contract. My question is that in trying for another contract with that company or any other company should i mention i have depression, need medication now and again? There seems to be no yes or no answer to this.

blindsider

I think you need to dig a little deeper.

Most people don't need AD's to work. A standard course (of any type) should not have such an impact on a person.

Do you understand why you need AD's? Can you take steps to remove the need for them? IMO you should work with a health professional to devise a plan for this, and then think carefully about the type of work you do and don't want to do.

BOL!

InReality

I'd talk to your GP about it. If the job had a big impact in bringing on anxiety and/or depression , perhaps going back to that job might not be the best idea ?

Mrs OBumble

There is no yes-or-no answer.

There are some jobs where they will specifically ask you if you have ever been diagnosed with a mental illness, or are on medications. For these jobs, the ones that ask directly, you should tell the truth. (Its possible that you won't get the job- but they are ones where there are public safety issues, and it's important that the employer knows.)

Other than that, I'd say don't tell unless it's directly relevant. You wouldn't mention if you has exema or asthma or various other things that are perfectly well managed alongside of working, so I wouldn't mention depression either.

davo10

Many employers including myself do ask about medical conditions at interview. I don't ask for specifics about the illness, to be honest I feel that would be intrusive. What I do ask is "have you any ongoing medical issues which may mean that you have to take time off work due to this illness?".

A job may/may not be offered taking the answer into account, (for instance I'm not going to give a job to a smoker with a history of chest problems), if you answered "no" and then subsequently had to take time off due to an illness which existed prior to interview, I would consider terminating your employment as your job would have been offered based on all the info you gave me at interview.

Therefore, if you think this is going to effect the way you do your job and that it may cause you to need to take time off, you should inform the employer if asked directly about medical issues, if not asked then the job is being offered irrespective of medical history and you should say nothing.

Ray Palmer

davo10 wrote: »

Many employers including myself do ask about medical conditions at interview. I don't ask for specifics about the illness, to be honest I feel that would be intrusive. What I do ask is "have you any ongoing medical issues which may mean that you have to take time off work due to this illness?".

You should not do this and are breaking discrimination law by asking the question . You are further breaking the law with your other suggestions. It is just a matter of luck nobody has reported you or brought you to court.

OP as for needing medication to work that is probably a misconception by yourself. Stress can exasperate an illness such as depression but it isn't the cause. A bit like having a back problem and carrying boxes makes it worse.

If you have been given this medication by a GP I suggest going to a psychologist or similar. A GP may dish out anti-depressants without treating the underlying problem or even diagnosing the condition correctly.
Leaving the job or not working in the field will not solve the problem and it will likely arise again over something else or nothing at all. Mental illness like depression don't need a trigger so it won't matter if you work in the field again. Then again if you don't have a mental illness then you could just really hate the work. Try to think back and decide if it was the work or you were irrationally. You should be keeping a mood diary to keep track of your medication anyway.

davo10

Ray Palmer wrote: »

You should not do this and are breaking discrimination law by asking the question . You are further breaking the law with your other suggestions. It is just a matter of luck nobody has reported you or brought you to court.
.

This is complete and utter nonsense.

I employed a HR firm recently to advise me on this and other contractual issues prior to interviews being held. Not only can you ask that, it may be imperative to assess if there may be a health and safety risk associated with a person working in a particular job. Also, not only do employers ask about health, in some cases the job offer is subject to applicant undergoing a medical examination including if I am not mistaken, the Gardai

Ray Palmer

davo10 wrote: »

This is complete and utter nonsense.

I employed a HR firm recently to advise me on this and other contractual issues prior to interviews being held. Not only can you ask that, it may be imperative to assess if there may be a health and safety risk associated with a person working in a particular job. Also, not only do employers ask about health, in some cases the job offer is subject to applicant undergoing a medical examination including if I am not mistaken, the Gardai

You can have a medical evaluation but you as an employer cannot ask about an applicant's health point blank. The doctor can tell you if there is an issue that will effect work but the employer has no right to know anything about your actual medical condition. Hiring a HR company means nothing as they can be bad at their job and given they told you this was OK (which I doubt) they are not very good.

You cannot discriminated based on disability which is what you have said you would do along with saying you would fire somebody for not declaring. You cannot ask the question to start with and you certainly can't fire somebody for not declaring something you have no right to know any way.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/equality_in_work/equality_authority.html

You have said if somebody had a condition that caused them not to come in due to health you would fire them. That quite clearly is discrimination based on a health condition which is classed as a disability. So if somebody had asthma and was off sick you would fire them if they didn't tell you ? How is this not discrimination? If you decided not to hire them because of it you are discriminate also.

Mrs OBumble

Ray Palmer wrote: »

You cannot discriminated based on disability

Ahh, it's not quite that clear cut.

I've used the example before of a friend's son who was fired from his job as a train-guard because of his schizophrenia, which he didn't declare despite being asked about it. There are cases, particularly where public safety is involved or where the job cannot be done with reasonable adaptation. eg I do not think we'll ever see a blind bus driver, or a paraplegic firefighter.

Frankly, I'll don't believe that we can say whether the OP's actions are legal or not. It depends on the job, how it's asked and how the results are used.

Ray Palmer

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Ahh, it's not quite that clear cut.

I've used the example before of a friend's son who was fired from his job as a train-guard because of his schizophrenia, which he didn't declare despite being asked about it. There are cases, particularly where public safety is involved or where the job cannot be done with reasonable adaptation. eg I do not think we'll ever see a blind bus driver, or a paraplegic firefighter.

Frankly, I'll don't believe that we can say whether the OP's actions are legal or not. It depends on the job, how it's asked and how the results are used.

There are exceptions. Your employer doesn't need to know any of your medical details in any situation. I can assure you they are illegal to ask the questions and carry on as he has suggested. The poster has made it clear he want to fire people due to not coming in not risks to staff or the public. It is about attendance not dangers. His example is somebody with a chest problems and a smoker.
I kept it simple for precisely what he said but he is not talking about risk assessments of his staff in position of safety. He still can't ask the question and such questions about conditions that would stop somebody from doing such jobs would be asked by a medical professional who does not pass this on to the employer. You simple pass or fail the medical

Stheno

Ray Palmer wrote: »

There are exceptions. Your employer doesn't need to know any of your medical details in any situation. I can assure you they are illegal to ask the questions and carry on as he has suggested. The poster has made it clear he want to fire people due to not coming in not risks to staff or the public. It is about attendance not dangers. His example is somebody with a chest problems and a smoker.
I kept it simple for precisely what he said but he is not talking about risk assessments of his staff in position of safety. He still can't ask the question and such questions about conditions that would stop somebody from doing such jobs would be asked by a medical professional who does not pass this on to the employer. You simple pass or fail the medical

There was a guy running a company a few years ago who made the papers as he had a rule that he wouldn't employ smokers full stop, and it was deemed not to be discriminatory by the EU

http://www.drugfree.org/join-together/european-companies-can-refuse-to-hire-smokers/

Ray Palmer

Stheno wrote: »

There was a guy running a company a few years ago who made the papers as he had a rule that he wouldn't employ smokers full stop, and it was deemed not to be discriminatory by the EU

http://www.drugfree.org/join-together/european-companies-can-refuse-to-hire-smokers/

So. Smoking isn't a medical condition. Depression is.

Mrs OBumble

Ray Palmer wrote: »

So. Smoking isn't a medical condition. Depression is.

I think that's a test case waiting to happen.

If alcohol dependency is a medical condition (it's in the DSM), then why isn't tobacco dependency?



(that said, I would unofficially run a no-smokers policy myself!)

Harry Angstrom

Falcon19 wrote: »

Did a work contract but i had severe anxiety issues at the time or depression. Unsure if i was tired due to a computer course i did before hand or the type of work i was doing, work environment etc. Got lexapro which helped marginally but it wasn't until i took sertraline that my confidence returned although by then the company decided not to renew the contract. My question is that in trying for another contract with that company or any other company should i mention i have depression, need medication now and again? There seems to be no yes or no answer to this.

Tell them absolutely nothing. No matter what anybody else tells you, there are still plenty of people who will form a negative opinion of you the minute you tell them something like that.

John368

Harry Angstrom wrote: »

Tell them absolutely nothing. No matter what anybody else tells you, there are still plenty of people who will form a negative opinion of you the minute you tell them something like that.

I agree with this. I detect perhaps an element of a cry for help in the OP's motives for telling a future employer such details. It will have only negative consequences in almost all cases in my view. If you were applying for a job with say a mental health charity, it might not have a negative effect, but for all others it would have an negative effect as far as I can see.

Ray Palmer

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

I think that's a test case waiting to happen.

If alcohol dependency is a medical condition (it's in the DSM), then why isn't tobacco dependency?



(that said, I would unofficially run a no-smokers policy myself!)

Test case for what? To make smoking an illness? It doesn't really matter at the moment it isn't discrimination.
It still doesn't change the real world impact that you cannot ask about a medical condition as you cannot use it to decide whom to hire (with the exception said condition doesn't put people in danger or prevent you form ever being able to do the job). In the cases of danger a medical can be performed but the employer is under no right to know the medical history or conditions of the applicant.

I would say the HR company if any good said you can ask " Are or have there been any issues which may mean that you have to take time off work?". as opposed to "have you any ongoing medical issues which may mean that you have to take time off work due to this illness?". How can you not see that this is intentionally being used to exclude people with medical conditions from being hired? Most medical conditions are covered by the discrimination laws. It is pretty clear cut you can't ask that question in the same way you can't ask if somebody is planning to have a child ,married, age, religion etc...

With mental illness there is certainly stigma and prejudice which cannot be used to deny you an opportunity (excluding the legitimate exceptions). People with depression may only have an episode every 5years or even longer.

I am still amazed that contracts have a clauses about mental illness. It ranges from insurance to employment. They probably just need to be challenged.

Falcon19

blindsider wrote: »

I think you need to dig a little deeper.

Most people don't need AD's to work. A standard course (of any type) should not have such an impact on a person.

Do you understand why you need AD's? Can you take steps to remove the need for them? IMO you should work with a health professional to devise a plan for this, and then think carefully about the type of work you do and don't want to do.

BOL!

I think i was burned out to be honest. I am fairly ok now.

Ray Palmer

Falcon19 wrote: »

I think i was burned out to be honest. I am fairly ok now.

Do not leave it at that. Depression comes and goes it is the nature of the condition. Find out what if anything is wrong and that means going beyond a GP. Leaving it untreated and it will bite you later on and can be much worse.

If you had a broken leg you wouldn't expect it to heal properly without getting medical attention. Mental illness is the same. You may adjust making the situation worse later on when it goes beyond what you have handled