Teaching Degree - Depression

stebiz

I am self employed and doing okay, but I have a passion for education. I have just completed a degree (with honours) as a hobby!! - Sad I know.

Question: I have also suffered with depression in the past and am still on medication now. I note I have to fill in certain health questionnaires (or so it says on certain University websites). It hasn't stopped me help teach my children - to very high grades! Will this stop me from going on a course or getting work as a Teacher? Is this a pipe dream? If so I will carry on with my present work. Anybody had similar problems?

Cheers
Stebiz

dmg24

Well managed depression is very unlikely to stop you getting a place on a PGCE course. I was accepted on a course (including medical clearance) with bipolar, although I eventually decided that it was not for me.

However, I would question if teaching is a suitable career for someone with a tendency for depression. Rates of mental health illness are very high in the teaching profession, and the reality of teaching a class full of children is very different from tutoring a few children.

Could you arrange a few weeks work experience in a school, or even a few schools?

Oldernotwiser

I know that this is a facetious comment but many people would say that if you're not depressed when you go into teaching, you soon will be!

CrazyCatLady

I'm only just starting my undergraduate course in September, so maybe I'm not the best person to give advice, but I'd like to do a PGCE when I finish.

I think if you are refused on the grounds of depression that it's disability discrimination, unless it can stop you working or studying for long periods of time.

It's not quite the same thing but my mother suffers from chronic depression and is a dinnerlady at a special needs school. She put it straight down on her medical questionnaire and they are very supportive of her.

Ignore any negative comments. I personally believe that suffering from depression makes you a stronger person and if you've already had it before going into the teaching profession you're in a strong position to fight any negative thoughts.

In case you couldn't tell, I suffer from depression too.

And doing a degree as a hobby isn't sad, it's very inspirational. My degree is going to be Creative Writing. It's far better to get a degree in something you love than doing the most boring subject in the world just for the sake of getting a soul-destroying desk job where you have to kiss ***.

Congratulations on your degree, I wish you all the best :beer:

Oldernotwiser

CrazyCatLady wrote: »

Ignore any negative comments. I personally believe that suffering from depression makes you a stronger person and if you've already had it before going into the teaching profession you're in a strong position to fight any negative thoughts.



:beer:

Excuse me! Whatever you "personally believe", I was a teacher for many years and had to retire from the profession on grounds of depression. You don't have to agree with me but I am speaking from a position of some experience!

Edit: As an additional point, if you're doing a degree in Creative Writing, what subject exactly do you expect to teach!

coffee_prince

antidepressants are the most prescribed medication today, millions are on it, so don't worry about it. Good luck

CrazyCatLady

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Excuse me! Whatever you "personally believe", I was a teacher for many years and had to retire from the profession on grounds of depression. You don't have to agree with me but I am speaking from a position of some experience!

Edit: As an additional point, if you're doing a degree in Creative Writing, what subject exactly do you expect to teach!

Fair enough if that's your experience but you didn't state that in your post, you just left a little "humorous" comment that in my opinion wasn't very helpful to the OP and her feelings of anxiety.

What I expect to teach?

Thank you for your interest in my career, I'm flattered that someone who doesn't even know me would ask such a question about my life on an unrelated thread.

I might teach creative writing to adults; you do a PGCE for that now. I already have the PTLLS qualification.

Some Primary PGCEs welcome degrees of all subjects now, as long as you have passed your GCSEs, so I'll be okay, therefore I may go in to Primary teaching.

Oldernotwiser

CrazyCatLady wrote: »

Thank you for your interest in my career, I'm flattered that someone who doesn't even know me would ask such a question about my life on an unrelated thread.

I might teach creative writing to adults; you do a PGCE for that now. I already have the PTLLS qualification.

Some Primary PGCEs welcome degrees of all subjects now, as long as you have passed your GCSEs, so I'll be okay, therefore I may go in to Primary teaching.

As a Careers Adviser, I'm always interested in people's career plans. I have to say that you're very unlikely to get into primary teaching with a Creative Writing degree and there are precious few places where you can teach it, full time, to adults.

Good luck though; you obviously know so much about it!

kymbogs

stebiz wrote: »

Will this stop me from going on a course or getting work as a Teacher? Is this a pipe dream? If so I will carry on with my present work. Anybody had similar problems?

Hiya Stebiz,
You shouldn't have any trouble but should definitely be honest about it on the forms. I think things have changed a lot these days and depression isn't kept in the dark and secret as much as it once was!

6 years ago I applied for a primary teaching degree and stated on the form that I had a history of depression. I was asked to go for an appointment with an occupational health bloke who to be honest was a complete !!!!!! and although he said begrudgingly that he'd sign me off for the course (he had been trying to throw me off guard by asking me what I'd do in XYZ classroom situations) he said that if it got back to him at any point that I was letting my work slip because of depression or that I might be a danger to the children he would have me kicked straight off the course :eek: Being young and gullible I took him at his word! More fool me but I didn't know any better back then. 6 months into the course I did start to struggle a lot and bearing in mind what I had been told, I decided I'd rather leave than be thrown off, and left uni. It wasn't as cut and dried as that and to be honest it was a very dark time for me mentally and there's big chunks I don't remember.

Fast-forward to this year and I decided to go back to uni, applied for the exact same course at the exact same place and put the same things on the health form. This time I got a phone-call from occupational health asking me about my depression and all I said was that it was under control etc (which is true) and they were happy with that and let me be, apart from to say that I should go see them if I ever feel I need any support! Quite a change there I'd say!

Am hoping this latter attitude towards depressive illness is the norm now rather than the former!

best of luck

Kimberley

Bennifred

CrazyCatLady wrote: »

................What I expect to teach?

.........................Some Primary PGCEs welcome degrees of all subjects now, as long as you have passed your GCSEs, so I'll be okay, therefore I may go in to Primary teaching.

Well, I don't wish to be rude, (and sorry to go OT, OP!), but maybe that partly explains why we get so many children arriving in Year 7 with below standard skills!:rolleyes:

mumps

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

As a Careers Adviser, I'm always interested in people's career plans. I have to say that you're very unlikely to get into primary teaching with a Creative Writing degree and there are precious few places where you can teach it, full time, to adults.

Good luck though; you obviously know so much about it!

I think that is a very unkind way to talk to someone who has said they suffer from depression and came on to give some support to someone else. I hope you are more supportive to your clients.