[ombrétwilight]

I am applying for a teaching internship and the form requires that:

1. I give my consent for the relevant Government authorities to obtain and verify information from or with any source, as you deem appropriate for the assessment of my application for this programme. MOE may need to obtain additional information from me if my prior records are not complete / available.

2. I declare that all information given by me in this application for this programme and any sheets attached hereto are true to the best of my knowledge and I have not wilfully suppressed any material fact. I accept that if any of the information given by me in this application is in any way false or incorrect, my application may be rejected or any offer of the position of an "Intern" made to me may be withdrawn / terminated summarily.

*MOE = Ministry of Education

I suffer from OCD and Bipolar II but have not been on meds for either. I am high-functioning and my MI will not affect my performance, so do I need to declare them and is there any way for the Ministry to check? I am afraid this will eliminate me from the competition.

[amandastar92]

Unless you are applying for law enforcement or military, no.

[Silent Void]

Are there specific mental health questions on the form?

[ombrétwilight]

Originally Posted by Silent Void

Are there specific mental health questions on the form?

Yes:
Have you suffered or are suffering from any medical condition, illness, disease, mental illness, substance dependence or physical impairment?

[Silent Void]

Well, if you answer less than truthfully they can fire you for it later. It's your call as to what you're willing to deal with. The question posted is somewhat vague. You don't have to be specific.

Personally, I think such questions are an invasion of medical privacy.

[ombrétwilight]

Originally Posted by Silent Void

Well, if you answer less than truthfully they can fire you for it later. It's your call as to what you're willing to deal with. The question posted is somewhat vague. You don't have to be specific.

Personally, I think such questions are an invasion of medical privacy.

I think I am going to put "no" and risk that they don't find out. It's only going to be 3 months so hopefully it's okay. The answer options are "yes/no" but there is a section after it that seeks clarification in the case of a "yes".

[archipelago]

Wow, I had no idea that anyone could legally ask a question like that. Medical issues are considered private and are protected. People are not supposed to be able to have any access to any medical files and shouldn't ask either. I'm surprised.

There are jobs, due to exposure to certain people, that do screen for things. While I understand the reasoning, I still feel this is invasive and potentially discriminatory, a violation of civil rights.

People get around this by having a psych eval or something like that to get a sense of fitness. They also do criminal background checks. But I've never heard of anyone asking about things like just diseases, mental illness, and substance abuse. I mean who hasn't had a disease?

I can't give advice, but I would answer no because I objected to the question in the first place from a principled stance. If something is discovered later, I would point out that I believed the question invaded my privacy and therefore was not a question I was willing to consider as valid.

[ombrétwilight]

Originally Posted by archipelago

Wow, I had no idea that anyone could legally ask a question like that. Medical issues are considered private and are protected. People are not supposed to be able to have any access to any medical files and shouldn't ask either. I'm surprised.

There are jobs, due to exposure to certain people, that do screen for things. While I understand the reasoning, I still feel this is invasive and potentially discriminatory, a violation of civil rights.

People get around this by having a psych eval or something like that to get a sense of fitness. They also do criminal background checks. But I've never heard of anyone asking about things like just diseases, mental illness, and substance abuse. I mean who hasn't had a disease?

I can't give advice, but I would answer no because I objected to the question in the first place from a principled stance. If something is discovered later, I would point out that I believed the question invaded my privacy and therefore was not a question I was willing to consider as valid.

Thanks for taking the time to reply! Here is the online application for reference. The section in question is the last one (scroll all the way down). APPLICATION FOR TEACHING INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME 2015

I am not from the US and this is a civil service job so basically it's the government asking (who of course also makes the rules). I would answer no too but it's highly unlikely that they will accept my explanation of privacy invasion.

[archipelago]

I looked over the application. I still think it is totally weird to ask that question. Everyone essentially has to answer "yes" if honest because everyone has had some disease or illness. Very odd.

I don't know if you have socialized/national medical health care or not. If so, I don't know if those records are accessible by a government agency like this. Or if they would bother to do a search, given the job is an internship in teaching so most of those issues aren't really relevant.

Here in the States if working with certain people in certain settings we do have to get a TB test for instance or say whether we have ever had it. But something like HIV status is illegal to ask about. As are most other medically related questions or those having to do with disability.

I guess another way to handle it so as not to lie is to check "yes" and then write something like "medical condition, in remission" and not divulge more than that. It's tricky. Almost anything you do could go wrong so I'm not sure.

[StayinAlive]

This is confusing me. In the US, no, it is not legal at all to ask this kind of question on the job application. We can't even ask your age! The form you're filling out seems to be Australian (?), so I'm not sure. Is there a trusted teacher or academic advisor you could ask?

Sounds like a nice experience for you.

[ombrétwilight]

Originally Posted by StayinAlive

This is confusing me. In the US, no, it is not legal at all to ask this kind of question on the job application. We can't even ask your age! The form you're filling out seems to be Australian (?), so I'm not sure. Is there a trusted teacher or academic advisor you could ask?

Sounds like a nice experience for you.

Thanks for the advice! I'm actually in Singapore. Good idea, I will check with one of the career guidance counsellors

[bigblackdog]

If you don't have a formal, on-record diagnosis that they are treating (which seems like might be the case) then I don't think that you need to say anything.

[JoeS21]

If you've only seen therapists who are in private practice by themselves, and are not affiliated with a hospital, and if you're primary care physician does NOT have record of any mental illness, then I would say that you're 99.9% safe.

If, on the other hand, a major hospital or your primary care have record of you having a mental health problem, then I would need to defer to someone else. That's more complicated.

If it were me, I would disclose AND provide a note that those conditions will NOT interfere with my job. And that I am willing to provide professional confirmation of that upon request. (In fact, my recovery/experience may be beneficial in providing a tolerant and empathetic teacher to certain students.)

Originally Posted by ombrétwilight

I am applying for a teaching internship and the form requires that:

1. I give my consent for the relevant Government authorities to obtain and verify information from or with any source, as you deem appropriate for the assessment of my application for this programme. MOE may need to obtain additional information from me if my prior records are not complete / available.

2. I declare that all information given by me in this application for this programme and any sheets attached hereto are true to the best of my knowledge and I have not wilfully suppressed any material fact. I accept that if any of the information given by me in this application is in any way false or incorrect, my application may be rejected or any offer of the position of an "Intern" made to me may be withdrawn / terminated summarily.

*MOE = Ministry of Education

I suffer from OCD and Bipolar II but have not been on meds for either. I am high-functioning and my MI will not affect my performance, so do I need to declare them and is there any way for the Ministry to check? I am afraid this will eliminate me from the competition.

[hamster-bamster]

OP, I see that a lot of people were confused because the location you list is Nashville - presumably, Nashville, TN, so in the states. In the States such questions cannot be asked and there are several statutes protecting people from such questioning on the federal level, plus, some states have additional protection for job applicants in their state.

Your question, as posed, cannot yield good answers because laws on privacy of medical information and on discrimination in hiring and employment differ not only by countries, but sometimes - see above - within the same country.

[ombrétwilight]

Originally Posted by hamster-bamster

OP, I see that a lot of people were confused because the location you list is Nashville - presumably, Nashville, TN, so in the states. In the States such questions cannot be asked and there are several statutes protecting people from such questioning on the federal level, plus, some states have additional protection for job applicants in their state.

Your question, as posed, cannot yield good answers because laws on privacy of medical information and on discrimination in hiring and employment differ not only by countries, but sometimes - see above - within the same country.

I changed my location because I was paranoid as mentioned on a post some time ago You do have a point in that these laws vary across spatial distances, but I guess I didn't think of this when asking but was looking for general opinion.

Oh and an update for all who've kindly answered: I put "none" and got through round 1. There'll be a group interview about a month later and results would be out by the end of this year. I suck at interviews so I have no confidence of getting through round 2 but I'll keep you posted as to whether I get the job. Thanks all again!

[CosmicRose]

Yeah that seems weird to me too. I guess if you're going to be teaching kids then maybe they just want to take extra precautions with any applicants, but I thought it was illegal for them to ask those kinds of questions. It's only legal to ask about felonies or convictions. Personally, I have an anxiety disorder, but I would never put that on a job application.

[Crazy Hitch]

They ask the exact same screening questions when applying for jobs here in Aus.

Got to think of a way to label "bipolar" differently because I will not label it as such on my form.

Personally, I think such questions are an invasion of medical privacy.

That's just like age invasion. An application doesn't ask specifically for your age or birth date. However, they can closely determine your age by when you graduated high school. Did anyone realize that?

[JoeS21]

I wanted to add that an attorney could help you make decisions about how to answer that sort of question. If you hire an attorney, there's something called "attorney-client privilege" where the attorney is allowed to keep all of your information confidential regardless of what you discuss.

[jan16th]

Originally Posted by ombrétwilight

I am applying for a teaching internship and the form requires that:

1. I give my consent for the relevant Government authorities to obtain and verify information from or with any source, as you deem appropriate for the assessment of my application for this programme. MOE may need to obtain additional information from me if my prior records are not complete / available.

2. I declare that all information given by me in this application for this programme and any sheets attached hereto are true to the best of my knowledge and I have not wilfully suppressed any material fact. I accept that if any of the information given by me in this application is in any way false or incorrect, my application may be rejected or any offer of the position of an "Intern" made to me may be withdrawn / terminated summarily.

*MOE = Ministry of Education

I suffer from OCD and Bipolar II but have not been on meds for either. I am high-functioning and my MI will not affect my performance, so do I need to declare them and is there any way for the Ministry to check? I am afraid this will eliminate me from the competition.

Since you are high functioning, not on meds, and they did not directly ask, I would say Don't Disclose it. I do counter work at a package delivery company. I have schizophrenia and like you, am high functioning and not on meds. If found out, they could claim some liability bs to get rid of me. The funny thing is, I am one of the best clerks they have. What a laugh.

[jan16th]

I would not say anything. They did not specifically ask about mental problems and the wording is vague.

[markdl]

Did I read this correctly? This is for a teaching internship in Singapore?

[thecrankyone]

Wow. Here in the US they aren't allowed to ask that question except to frame it as any issues that would interfere with your ability to do the job, (ie able to lift x amount of weight, deal with certain issues, handle high pressure situations and so on).

The questions you are being asked I can't imagine on a job application unless it was for cop, FBI or something with with extremely high security clearance.