Job in mental health if you have mental health issues

Sugar_Coated_Owl

Hi, I have mental health issues but recovering. I want to work in mental health but am wondering whether my mental health history will go against me. Can employers simply say no because you have metal health problems?

pawsies

I don't know but I would advise not mentioning it on the application form if possible as it will blacklist you.

If/when you get to interview and if they bring it up then be truthful, but use it to your advantage 'I have suffered with xyz and as a result it has made me more compassionate towards families and sufferers etc'

passatrider

pawsies wrote: »

I don't know but I would advise not mentioning it on the application form if possible as it will blacklist you.

If/when you get to interview and if they bring it up then be truthful, but use it to your advantage 'I have suffered with xyz and as a result it has made me more compassionate towards families and sufferers etc'

Good advice here.

This is what I did when I applied for my current job with a local charity as a driver. I brought up my MH problems in general at interview stage but just said I took time out to sort myself out as such.
I found this approach to be much easier to explain rather than give them my life history. Emphasise the positives not the negatives.

Oh, I got the job;)

Racheldevon

You're likely to have to fill out an occupational health form once a conditional offer is made. I would use your personal experiences to really reflect on what your own experiences have taught you, how this might impact and relate with any potential work with service users/the organisation you're thinking of working for etc.

Dunroamin

Given that you don't want to train as a MH nurse, what sort of MH role would you see yourself doing?

Sugar_Coated_Owl

Thanks everyone

The job itself is irrelevant really.

wolfehouse

peer support is becoming a big thing these days
and in some areas jobs are offered in this
(only one example but see this http://www.together-uk.org/about-us/peer-support/)
there might be a mental health alliance or advocacy group in your area that would know of opportunities to work in this.
and only people with lived experience qualify.
don't know what the pay would be like though.

marybelle01

Sugar_Coated_Owl wrote: »

Thanks everyone

The job itself is irrelevant really.

Irrelevant to you, or irrelevant to them? If it's irrelevant to you that's fine, but it cannot be irrelevant to them - as in potential employers. And it isn't quite as irrelevant to you as you may think. Most employers in the mental health field will consider your personal experience of mental health problems an asset in some roles, and potentially, in the future, in many roles. But you describe yourself as "recovering", which means you aren't all the way there yet, and since you obviously know enough about the challenges of mental ill health, it isn't like getting over the flu - there can be relapses.

Working in the field of mental health is extremely stressful, and potential employers will need to be confident that,much as your personal experience would be an asset, they are not also putting you at risk of relapse because stresses play a major part in such events. And you need to consider that risk very seriously too. You need to be absolutely confident that it won't happen. Relapses can hit harder and be much more debilitating, and you can't want to risk that.

My advice would be to seek some appropriate voluntary work. Build up your experience and your resilience in a setting you have more control over. You can start out small and work up, get valuable field experience which will certainly help your CV, and if it becomes too much you can reign back a bit and then build up again when ready. You may also be able to gain some valuable training.

Sugar_Coated_Owl

The job I am considering applying for is irrelevant to this thread. It's just a job in mental health.

Thank you for your advice re: volunteering. I think it's a good idea.

When I say I'm recovering I mean I'm taking prescribed medication and waiting for DBT to begin.

loulou123

Having sufferered from mental health problems myself, i now work in mental health (although i work with elderly patients who have mainly things like dementia.)

I actually told the whole truth on my application form (kind of had to as it had spaces for medical history etc) and i got an interview and got the job.

I do think i was exceptionally lucky tho and unfortanetly mental health problems will put some employers off. As it was my first job after my 'problems' i was on probation for 3 months, but they didnt hesitate to keep me on.

ali-t

Sugar_Coated_Owl wrote: »

Thanks everyone

The job itself is irrelevant really.

No it isn't.

There are lots of service user organisations that are staffed by people with mental health problems. These are as paid employees, rather than volunteers. This would be a good option if you are looking for a support worker or development worker type post.