[also_depr]

If you suffer from recurring depression (or any other mental problem), but are being treated and are functional, what's your approach for finding a job?

You'll certainly have some time in your CV that you cannot explain. What's the best: to confess that you have mental issues or some sort of white lie?

Or, should you specifically go into a profession were CVs are not that important, less corporate maybe, something creative, or some area where people work on a project basis.

[Perna]

I guess it depends on your background, how long you have been working and in what field, etc. I just used self-employed, school, or working on own projects to fill in the gaps. But, I never hid that I had issues in the first place, I just don't think they are germane to one's CV. If it got serious in an interview I negotiated time off to see my therapist, etc. The CV says what you are working on, isn't supposed to be about health or hobbies or other issues that don't have anything to do with what jobs you are applying for. Issues are part of taking/not taking a particular job.

[madisgram]

that's a good question. when i returned to my career i made no mention of my bipolar and depression. not cuz i felt i needed to hide it but it wasn't germane to my being hired. my dx's were also manageable at that time. sounds like u're the same. but regardless it doesn't need to be discussed.
also it's inappropriate for the interviewer to bring it up. it's why you should be considered for your business experience not your mental health.
best wishes for your upcoming employment!

[splitimage]

Job hunting really sucks. I have a couple of one year gaps on my resume, as a result of addiction as opposed to mental health issues. And I'm sure as heck not disclosing that. For my first gap, I say I had elder care responsibilities. For my second gap, I say that I've been teaching part time, doing some freelance work, and studying harp at a more advanced level.

Good luck with your job hunt.

splitimage

[Fresia]

I won't lie about it but I won't disclose it unless absolutely necessary as it is not pertinent to my work most of the time, so I will take this tact again when I begin job hunting upon graduation. If time off is needed for therapy appointments, pdoc, etc. and then the time is simply needed for a "medical condition". If there is a required physical exam and mental health is usually asked about then, it needs to be disclosed as "treated (depression/BP/whatever the case may be" ; I will do so, but these files are typically confidential with HR or management.

Best wishes in your job hunt!!

Great thread, and it really resembles my specific situation. I always have gaps in my resume and I like to fill them with lies.

I'm sorry your working life has been interrupted by depression, but I'm reassured to see that I'm not the only one, too. I feel validated.

I'd be terrified to even try it, without job placement assistance with an agency that specifically helps people with disabilities. Rather than explain the gap of a good many years in my work history, I'll let the job consultant do that for me. The employer will know I have disabilities before I even get to the interview, since all of the clientele of the placement agency do, everywhere from being in a wheelchair to being mentally challenged, and they won't be expecting otherwise.

For myself personally, it helps that I have physical limitations. The cane and the knee braces do the talking for me there, and it can be assumed that they are the reason I am considered "disabled." Also, being a woman, I could always fall back on being a stay-at-home mother and raising my children as an excuse not to have a paying job for X amount of time. It's a shame that doesn't work equally well for a man, yet. It should.

[whenwillitend]

Before getting the job I have now, I hadn't worked in years. Although it was due to my depression mainly, since I have kids nobody questioned it. And even before I had kids I have gaps in my timeline, but nobody questioned that either. I guess I got lucky. I didn't mention my depression to my current employer until I went IP twice in one month this year, the second time I felt it was the right thing to do to let my employer know what's going on. (The first time my husband just told her that I was in the hospital and she didn't ask any further questions.) Luckily she was extremely understanding and supportive.

I don't think I would ever outright lie about it. I don't like being lied to, and I'm sure any potential employer would feel the same way.

[also_depr]

Yes, whenwilitend, outright lies is certainly a no-no. Another thing is to 'stretch' the truth. If I work on project basis half-day week for months, that's certainly not much. But I can simply put on the CV: from month x to month y, worked on projects in my field.

Anyway, getting a job when the mental issues start to improve is an important step in healing, but mental health professional are not always able to help here.

Can gaps in your job timeline really be put down to depression or anxiety? Or is it just laziness?

@Illegal Toilet. What an incredibly insensitive thing to say!

Originally Posted by Lillylillie

@Illegal Toilet. What an incredibly insensitive thing to say!

I didn't mean it like that, I'm asking because I have those gaps too and don't really know what the reason is for them.

I'm sorry I snapped. I have a big gap now too and I'm ashamed. The bad voices in my head taunt me with: Why haven't I applied for more jobs? Why haven't I made more of an effort?

Emotional pain is the equivalent of physical pain. My T just sent me an article that mentioned that when I said I don't think I can even make it to my appointment tomorrow.

It's like we all have broken arms and people are just telling us we're lazy!! I literally want to stab my ****ing eyes out! I want to do physical harm to myself everyday. I'm in agony. I hate myself down to the very core of my being. I'm not just lazy!!!

(also I am having a rough night) I apologize for the rant.

In all fairness, I would have taken the "laziness" comment the same way. I'm glad it was resolved before I saw it, because I'm feeling pretty snappy today myself. No hard feelings, Toilet, and I'm not trying to call you out.

I've been called lazy too many times to count. Even a psych nurse, when I told her how I just can't get myself started cleaning the house sometimes, responded, "You can if you make yourself." This from a mental health professional! This was decades ago, and I hope knowledge has progressed since 1984, when that happened.

Originally Posted by LovebirdsFlying

In all fairness, I would have taken the "laziness" comment the same way. I'm glad it was resolved before I saw it, because I'm feeling pretty snappy today myself. No hard feelings, Toilet, and I'm not trying to call you out.

No problems, it was badly worded I admit.

I've been called lazy too many times to count. Even a psych nurse, when I told her how I just can't get myself started cleaning the house sometimes, responded, "You can if you make yourself." This from a mental health professional! This was decades ago, and I hope knowledge has progressed since 1984, when that happened.

Same here, except I think people make that assumption every day, and also my case manager at a disability employment agency said something very similar. I was just a bit stunned at what he said, but when I told my psychologist later that week, i burst into tears.

[also_depr]

Illegal Toilet, nope, no lazyness, but it's OK you brought this issue, so we can deal with it. I know some people would say: "huh, depression? No, it was lazyness." That's also why I don't want to put that on my CV.

I have gaps because depression made everything look bleak in my mind, even if it wasn't. Anyway, I do not things I should rest when others are working. It's clear from my question that I want to re-enter the work market, and that I'm searching for the best way to it.

The thing I've discovered, in the years since the nurse said that to me, is that there is a grain of truth in "You can if you make yourself." Just a grain. When people say things that really burn our biscuits, this is often the case. It's that grain of truth getting under our skin. Yes, it's faintly true that "you can if you make yourself." It will take an unbelievable amount of Herculean effort, and it will use up massive amounts of time where others can knock the chore out in a few minutes. But yes, ultimately you can. Just the same as a person with paralyzed legs CAN climb a hill by clawing to the top with the hands and fingers. Exhausting? Of course. And it would take forever, while a person whose legs work can just stroll on up.

This is why spouting that sentence off to someone right at the time when they're buried under the biggest pile of rocks is insensitive. And it's not what they need to hear just then.

[IowaFarmGal]

I sometimes find it very hard to do the things I need to survive, like getting the paper work together to get a small pension started so I'd at least have a small amount of money after I got fired. I have gaps too because it's hard to find a job when you are older and mentally ill and I have a bad habit of telling the truth without embroidering it. This time I found a jobs program and I'll have someone helping with placement. They will be at the interview with me and if the job turns out to be a nightmare for me they will find another placement. I'm afraid of the interview though. How do I explain that the last job overwhelmed me and would beat on my head and go into panic mode and that the last time I had enough so I refused to cooperate and invited them to fire me.

[InTheShadows]

Never reveal your medical history, none of their business. it's your private matters and unless you need accommodations, it's just not their business

((((hugs))))

Originally Posted by also_depr

If you suffer from recurring depression (or any other mental problem), but are being treated and are functional, what's your approach for finding a job?

You'll certainly have some time in your CV that you cannot explain. What's the best: to confess that you have mental issues or some sort of white lie?

Or, should you specifically go into a profession were CVs are not that important, less corporate maybe, something creative, or some area where people work on a project basis.

[Merlin]

I know, in my case, I didn't have the choice of whether or not my prospective (and now current) employer was told about my mental illness. The only choices I had were to tell my employer in the interview or to wait until the security check where my mental health apprehension would be disclosed.

As an aside, I believe that an employer should be obligated to offer employment before asking for a police check. That way if the offer of employment is later retracted, there is evidence that it is due to the check. I also believe that the police should be able to provide a good reason for disclosing mental health apprehensions.

Back on topic, since I was applying for work in the mental health and addictions field, I decided to present my illness as an advantage. I discussed my experience here as a chat leader. I informed them that I used WRAP as a major component of my chats and brought examples of my plans for chat topics. I explained that I would encourage all the patients without referencing my own mental illness.

I was later asked to come back in to discuss any accommodations I needed: only time off for medical appointments. I was not offered the position I was interviewed for, but I was offered a position and I was told by my interviewers that I was very brave, to disclose, and interviewed very well.

I do not choose to tell all my supervisors, though some I have told (in once case, my supervisor helped me to persuade the police to stop disclosing my apprehension.) I do not tell my colleagues, unless they become friends; I imagine one day I will "come out crazy," to advance my advocacy efforts, but I will probably wait until I have my nursing diploma and a permanent position.

Originally Posted by LovebirdsFlying

I'd be terrified to even try it, without job placement assistance with an agency that specifically helps people with disabilities. Rather than explain the gap of a good many years in my work history, I'll let the job consultant do that for me. The employer will know I have disabilities before I even get to the interview, since all of the clientele of the placement agency do, everywhere from being in a wheelchair to being mentally challenged, and they won't be expecting otherwise.

That seems like it would be the best way to seek employment, at least to me. A good place to start would be government run vocational rehabilitation services.

As for laziness, I just want to say that I am both mentally ill and quite lazy.